Sources of variation in the interaction between three cereal aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and wheat (Poaceae)

Abstract

The relative contributions of host plant, herbivore species and clone to variation in the interaction between cereal aphids and wheat were investigated using five clones each of three species, Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus), Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) and Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), on seedlings of two cultivars of Triticum aestivum L. and one cultivar of Triticum durum Desf. More individuals and biomass of R. padi than of the other two species were produced on seedlings. The three wheat cultivars lost similar amounts of biomass as a result of infestation by aphids, with the amount lost depending on aphid species: S. avenae caused the lowest loss in biomass. Variation in aphid biomass production was due mostly to differences among aphid species (70%), less to the interaction between wheat type and aphid species (7%), and least to aphid clone (1%). The specific impact of the aphids on the plants ranged from 1.7 to 3.7 mg of plant biomass lost per mg of aphid biomass gained, being lowest for R. padi and highest for S. graminum. Variation in plant biomass lost to herbivory was due mostly to unknown sources of error (95%), probably phenotypic differences among individual seedlings, with 3% due to aphid species and none attributable to aphid clone. For these aphid-plant interactions, differences among aphid clones within species contributed little to variation in aphid and plant productivity; therefore, a small sample of clones was adequate for quantifying the interactions. Furthermore, one clone of each species maintained in the laboratory for about 200 parthenogenetic generations was indistinguishable from clones collected recently from the field.

Interactions between conventional and organic farming for biocontrol services across the landscape

“…Yet, the relationship between host load and yield can be complex. For instance, the impact of aphids on crops can depend on crop type, aphid species, and the timing of infestation (Migui andLamb 2006, Rhainds et al 2012). Our exploration of two generic host load-yield relationships indicated that the type of relationship (linear vs. quadratic) mattered for the quantitative outcome of yield reduction, but less so for the qualitative outcome of the different scenarios (Fig.…”

Trophic interactions between three species of cereal aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and spring wheat (Poaceae): implications for pest management

“…MacKay, Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, and originally collected from cereal fields in southern Manitoba. The interactions of these clones with Canadian spring wheat were previously shown to be representative of the three aphid species (Migui and Lamb 2006). Aphids were reared in the laboratory on seedlings of common barley, Hordeum vulgare L. 'Argyle' (Poaceae) (Migui and Lamb 2006).…”

“…The interactions of these clones with Canadian spring wheat were previously shown to be representative of the three aphid species (Migui and Lamb 2006). Aphids were reared in the laboratory on seedlings of common barley, Hordeum vulgare L. 'Argyle' (Poaceae) (Migui and Lamb 2006). Two species and three classes of commercial wheat from western Canada were investigated: T. aestivum, Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS) and Canadian Prairie Spring (CPS), and T. durum, Canadian Western Amber Durum (CWAD).…”

The resilience of weed seedbank regulation by carabid beetles, at continental scales, to alternative prey

“…Table S6). The estimated individual masses used for Collembola and Aphididae were 0.082 mg 64 and 4.5 mg 65 , respectively. Prey counts and biomasses were assessed for each sampling point and each session, except for Austria, for which only the first session was available.…”