Electropenetrography a.k.a. electrical penetration graph or EPG is a rigorous technique for studying arthropod behavior. Essentially, the arthropod and host are part of an electrical circuit that generates patterns of voltage (waveforms), whose biological meanings are defined by correlation with histology and behavior. EPG is used for studying stylet probing behavior of hemipterans, and blood-feeding arthropods. These results are applied to understanding pesticide action, host plant resistance, and vector-pathogen-host interactions. At the end of all recordings, the arthropod begins a behavior that ends because the scientist stopped recording. An argument for keeping this event in the data has been made based on the assumption that the insect is adapting to laboratory conditions. In this adaptation process, the expected durations of ingestion behaviors will increase as the insect adapts. We show that this assumption can cause problems in data analysis and interpretation of the data. If the assumption is false, then there are more options for analyzing the data. Deleting artificially terminated events can be advantageous, but the best approach needs to consider the biology of the arthropod and align with research objectives.
Keywords: data analysis; electrical penetration graph.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2018.