Diurnal Patterns in Host Finding by Potato Aphids, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Homoptera: Aphididae)

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Girish K. Narayandas ◽  
Andrei V. Alyokhin
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 223-239
Author(s):  
Rosalind K. Humphreys ◽  
Graeme D. Ruxton ◽  
Alison J. Karley

AbstractDropping behavior is an effective antipredator defense utilized by many insects including aphids, which drop from plants to lower plant parts or underlying substrates to avoid attack from predatory invertebrates. While research commonly focusses on triggers of dropping, less attention is given to what happens to prey individuals following escape drops. In this study, the duration of tonic immobility, recovery rates, and cases of “instant recovery” (re-clinging to lower plant parts) exhibited by potato aphids (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) that dropped from potted seedlings in response to introduced ladybird (Adalia bipunctata) adults, lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea) larvae, and a standardized tactile stimulus were investigated in relation to a range of environmental factors. Air temperature had a negative correlation with the duration of post-dropping tonic immobility; as temperature increased, time spent motionless decreased. Aphids also showed a pattern of increased recovery rate at higher temperatures. Aphids may be selected to move off the substrate quicker to avoid risks of overheating/desiccation at higher temperatures; and/or higher body temperature facilitates locomotion. Stimulus type also influenced recovery rate back to the original seedling, with aphids generally recovering after the standardized stimulus quicker than after dropping triggered by a real predator. Considering cases of instant recovery onto lower-reaches of the host seedling, seedling height influenced the likelihood of re-clinging, with aphids that managed to instantly recover dropping from, on average, taller seedlings than aphids that dropped to the substrate. Plant architecture could mitigate the costs of dropping for aphids, but further studies quantifying understory foliage cover are needed.


Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Rosalind K. Humphreys ◽  
Graeme D. Ruxton ◽  
Alison J. Karley

Abstract For herbivorous insects, dropping from the host plant is a commonly-observed antipredator defence. The use of dropping compared to other behaviours and its timing in relation to contact with a predator was explored in both pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) and potato aphids (Macrosiphum euphorbiae). Pea aphids dropped more frequently in response to ladybird adults (Adalia bipunctata) than lacewing larvae (Chrysoperla carnea). Potato aphids mainly walked away or backed-up in response to both predator types; but they dropped more frequently relative to other non-walking defences when faced with ladybird adults. Contact with a predator was an important influencer of dropping for both species, and most drops occurred from adjacent to the predator. Dropping appears to be a defence adaptively deployed only when the risk of imminent predation is high; factors that increase dropping likelihood include presence of faster-foraging predators such as adult ladybirds, predator proximity, and contact between aphid and predator.


1997 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Boiteau ◽  
W.P.L. Osborn

AbstractAdult potato aphids, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), caged on potato terminal leaflets treated systemically with imidacloprid solutions ranging between 5.4 × 10−4 and 5.4 × 10−8 mL per mL water showed a significant reduction in the distance they travelled, time taken to travel a given distance, and flight propensity but no significant differences in the frequency or duration of short probing behaviour. The frequency of adult apterous potato aphids colonizing untreated potato leaflets or leaflets treated with an imidacloprid solution (5.4 × 10−4 mL per mL water) was not significantly different, indicating no repellency. Potato aphids moving from systemically treated to untreated leaflets did not recover much and their reduced walking ability was maintained for days. A 3-day exposure to vapour from an imidacloprid solution (5.4 × 10−4 mL per mL water) did not produce significant mortality or changes in nymphal production. The daily cumulative mortality obtained by caging potato aphids on potato leaflets placed in an imidacloprid solution (5.4 × 10−7 mL per mL water) was similar to that obtained in the field, on 20-day-old plants treated at planting with imidacloprid applied at 0.02 g Ai/m. None of the rates of imidacloprid tested stimulated the dispersal of apterous or alate potato aphids.


1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1396-1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Boiteau

The relative ability of apterous and alate morphs of aphids to disperse from one potato leaflet to another was similar within species. Three species were tested: the buckthorn aphid, Aphis nasturtii Kaltenbach, the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), and the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer). The average percentage of aphids moving daily from one leaflet to another never exceeded 2.5% for nymphs of the three species, but reached 45% for the adult winged buckthorn aphid. During the first half of the reproductive period, adult potato aphids were 1.5 times as likely as buckthorn aphids and twice as likely as green peach aphids to relocate daily. In a flight chamber, buckthorn aphids flew 4.5 times longer than green peach or potato aphids. The maiden flights of these summer forms were interrupted by repeated landings lasting less than 2 min. The maiden flights were interrupted more than twice as often for the buckthorn aphid as for the potato aphid. The number of flight interruptions was intermediate for the green peach aphid. Selected dispersal parameters for these aphid species are compared with those for the black bean aphid, Aphis fabae Scopoli, an occasional potato-colonizing species. The percentage of green peach and potato aphids taking flight was significantly correlated with the temperature in the flight chamber. The implication of these results for the distribution of aphid populations and the epidemiology of viral diseases is discussed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Li ◽  
Qi-Guang Xie ◽  
Jennifer Smith-Becker ◽  
Duroy A. Navarre ◽  
Isgouhi Kaloshian

The tomato Mi-1 gene confers resistance to root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.), potato aphids (Macrosiphum euphorbiae), and whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci and B. tabaci biotype B). Resistance to potato aphid is developmentally regulated and is not associated with induction of a hypersensitive response. The NahG transgene that eliminates endogenous salicylic acid (SA) was used to test the role of the SA signaling pathway in the resistance mediated by Mi-1 to potato aphids. Aphids survived longer on NahG tomato plants than on wild type. However, aphid reproduction was not affected on NahG tomato. Aphid resistance in Mi-1 NahG plants was completely abolished and the phenotype was successfully rescued by application of BTH (benzo(1,2,3)-thiaiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl ester), indicating that the SA signaling pathway is an important component of Mi-1-mediated aphid resistance. Using virus-induced gene silencing, one or more mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades required for Mi-1-mediated aphid resistance were identified. Silencing plants for MAPK kinase (LeMKK2) and MAPKs (LeMPK2 and LeMPK1, or LeMPK3) resulted in attenuation of Mi-1-mediated aphid resistance. These results further demonstrate that resistance gene-mediated signaling events against piercing-sucking insects are similar to those against other plant pathogens.


1984 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 1069-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory P. Walker ◽  
Laurence V. Madden ◽  
Donald E. Simonet

AbstractSpatial dispersion of potato aphids was studied in fields of processing-tomatoes for 2 years to develop a sequential sampling scheme for the aphid. Potato aphids were found on upper, middle, and lower leaf strata in the percentages 60, 31, and 8. Dispersion was clumped, apterates more so than alates. Among-plant variance was generally greater than within-plant variance. There was a good linear relationship between mean crowding and the population mean and an excellent linear fit between log variance and log mean on all leaf strata for green and pink forms of the aphid and for alates and apterates. The log variance – log mean relationship was used as a basis for sequential sampling.


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 264-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoudou Sétamou ◽  
Adrian Sanchez ◽  
Joseph M. Patt ◽  
Shad D. Nelson ◽  
John Jifon ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kishor K. Bhattarai ◽  
Qi-Guang Xie ◽  
Daniel Pourshalimi ◽  
Ted Younglove ◽  
Isgouhi Kaloshian

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has a unique resistance gene, Mi-1, that confers resistance to animals from distinct taxa, nematodes, and piercing and sucking insects. Mi-1 encodes a protein with a nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeat motifs. Early in the potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae)—tomato interactions, aphid feeding induces the expression of the jasmonic acid (JA)-regulated proteinase inhibitor genes, Pin1 and Pin2. The jai1-1 (jasmonic acid insensitive 1) tomato mutant, which is impaired in JA perception, was used to gain additional insight into the JA signaling pathway and its role in the Mi-1—mediated aphid resistance. The jai1-1 mutant has a deletion in the Coi1 gene that encodes a putative F-box protein. In this study, aphid colonization, survival, and fecundity were compared on wild-type tomato and jai1-1 mutant. In choice assays, the jai1-1 mutant showed higher colonization by potato aphids compared with wild-type tomato. In contrast, no-choice assays showed no difference in potato aphid survival or fecundity between jai1-1 and the wild-type parent. Plants homozygous for Mi-1 and for the jai1 mutation were not compromised in resistance to potato aphids, using either choice or no-choice assays. In addition, the accumulation of JA-regulated Pin1 transcripts after aphid feeding was Coi1 dependent. Taken together, these data indicate that, although potato aphids activate Coi1-dependent defense response in tomato, this response is not required for Mi-1—mediated resistance to aphids.


1980 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 963-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Elliott

AbstractPopulations of flying potato aphids (Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas)), available to initiate new infestations on crops, were measured by plant trapping from 1966 to 1971 and by suction trapping from 1967 to 1978 at Harrow, Ontario. Yearly total catches were extremely variable and in some years there were periods of 2 weeks without catches during the summer. The long term annual flight pattern was a unimodal curve with a peak in August. Counts by plant trapping correlated with those obtained by suction trapping, and catches on Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, and peppers were all positively correlated. Plants exposed on a background of bare soil attracted more alatae than those exposed on a background of mowed weeds. The first female alatae were caught in the suction traps on 21 June ± 5 days each year and the first male alatae on 22 October ± 2 days. The last female alatae were caught on 21 October ± 5 days and the last males on 6 November ± 2 days.


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