Can electrostatic fields limit the take-off of tiny whiteflies ( Bemisia tabaci )?
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Can electrostatic fields limit the take‑off of tiny whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci)? Omri Lapidot1 · Avital Bechar2 · Beni Ronen2 · Gal Ribak1,3 Received: 9 February 2020 / Revised: 11 July 2020 / Accepted: 15 July 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Electrostatic fields are abundant in the natural environment. We tested the idea that electrostatic attraction forces between tiny whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) and the substrate could be substantial to the point of limiting their take-off. These insects are characterized by a very small body mass and powerful take-offs that are executed by jumping into the air with the wings closed. Wing opening and transition to active flight occur after the jump distanced the insect several body lengths away from the substrate. Using high-speed cameras, we captured the take-off behavior inside a uniform electrostatic field apparatus and used dead insects to calculate the electric charge that these tiny insects can carry. We show that electrostatic forces stimulate the opening of the insect’s wings and can attract the whole insect toward the opposite charge. We also found that whiteflies can carry and hold an electrical charge of up to 3.5 pC. With such a charge the electrostatic field required to impede take-off is much stronger than those typically found in the natural environment. Nevertheless, our results demonstrate that artificial electrostatic fields can be effectively used to suppress flight of whiteflies, thus providing options for pest control applications in greenhouses. Keywords Electrostatic · Insects · Pest-control · Take-off · Jumping Abbreviation ES Electrostatic
Introduction Living animals are exposed to the electrostatic (ES) fields that exist between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere (Clarke et al. 2017). These ES fields vary in their intensity, from weak ones, typically found in the natural environment (~ 0.1 to 0.3 kV/m near the earth surface on calm days), to Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-020-01439-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Gal Ribak [email protected] 1
School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
2
Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel
3
The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, National Center for Biodiversity Studies, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
strong ones during thunderstorms or near man-made high voltage power lines (Clarke et al. 2017; Rycroft et al. 2000). A charged particle creates an electric field and generates ES forces with other charges. According to Coulomb’s law, the magnitude of the ES force is a function of the electric field strength and the magnitude of the particle’s charge. Previous studies (Warnke 1976; Gan-Mor et al. 1995) have suggested that flying insects, such as honeybees, can generate and accumulate a positive electric
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