Behavioural differences during host selection between alate virginoparae of generalist and tobacco‐specialist Myzus persicae

Abstract

Host plant selection and acceptance by aphids involves four consecutive steps: (1) prealighting behaviour, (2) leaf surface exploration and probing of subepidermal tissues, (3) deep probing of plant tissues, and (4) evaluation of the phloem sap. Host specialisation in aphids may involve not only different performances on potential hosts, but also different strategies for host selection and acceptance. Myzus persicae s.s. (Sulzer) (Homoptera: Aphididae) is one of the most polyphagous aphid species, although a tobacco‐adapted subspecies, M. persicae nicotianae, has been described. These two taxa constitute a good system for studying the effect of host range on host selection strategies. We studied the first two steps in the host selection process by alate virginoparae of M. persicae s.s. and M. persicae nicotianae on host and non‐host plants, using three types of behavioural assays: wind tunnel, olfactometry, and video‐recording. Alate virginoparae of M. persicae nicotianae recognised and chose their host plant more efficiently than M. persicae s.s., on the basis of olfactory and visual cues, and factors residing at cuticular and subcuticular levels. Host recognition was evident before phloem tissues were contacted. Olfactory cues were apparently not involved in host selection by M. persicae s.s.

Relationship Between Saponin Content in Alfalfa and Aphid Development

“…This morph is involved in intensive exploitation of hosts, reducing their content of the main nutritive compounds. The decrease in host nutrition may stimulate the development of winged morphs (Awmack and Leather, 2002), rejection of the host plant, and migration to more suitable hosts (Vargas et al, 2005;Angeli and Simoni, 2006). In this study the number of A. pisum winged morphs was highest on Radius, which also contained the highest concentration of saponins.…”

Host-related morphological variation within Myzus persicae group (Homoptera: Aphididae) from Japan

“…Performance and behavioural experiments with Greek clones demonstrated negative trade-offs that reduce the performance of tobacco aphids on other crops (Nikolakakis et al, Host-related morphological variation within Myzus persicae group (Homoptera: Aphididae) from Japan 2003), and a selection against transfers between tobacco and other host plants, which has presumably led to improved host recognition by winged female migrants (Margaritopoulos et al, 2005). The latter has also been demonstrated in Chile (Vargas et al, 2005).…”

Identification of Generalist and Specialist Phenotypes of the Peach-Potato Aphid <i>Myzus persicae</i> (Insecta : Hemiptera : Aphididae) in Agroecosystem of Northeast India

“…In addition, intraspecific generalist and specialist morphs or genotypes adapted to a wide range of unrelated and specialized food plants respectively, have also been reported from different geographical regions 5,[8][9][10][11] . The green peach-potato aphid, Myzus persicae, is of Asian origin like its primary host, Prunus persica (L.), but has become a world-wide pest of many food crops, especially vegetables like potato, tomato, eggplants and kale crops 12 , and a vector of many plant diseases 13 .…”

“…Apterous viviparous female morph of aphids, which is the colonizer of food plants, appears to undergo constant changes in its structures and functions in order to adapt to variable conditions of host environments including presence of allelochemicals which profoundly influence the selection process of host plant 28,29 . The generalist and specialist clones of M. persicae from Chile, South America, Europe and Australia were reported 5,9,11,26 ; generalist genotypes live on optimal as well as suboptimal hosts without compromising their life history fitness, that is, R max of suboptimal hosts significantly improved when transferred to optimal hosts and decreased in reciprocal transfers. In contrast, specialist genotypes performed at fixed level only on optimal host.…”

“…Worldwide, host-adapted races, also called biotypes, phenotypic plasticity, and cryptic species have been reported in aphids, like Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis fabae Scopoli, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) and Sitobion miscanthi (Takahashi) based on their reaction norms [5][6][7][8][9] and/or genetic differences 10 . In addition, intraspecific generalist and specialist morphs or genotypes adapted to a wide range of unrelated and specialized food plants respectively, have also been reported from different geographical regions 5,[8][9][10][11] .…”