Factors affecting host plant selection in alfalfa aphids
Abstract
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) hosts several species of aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), Aphis craccivora Koch and Therioaphis trifolii (Monell). The preference of the aphids of alfalfa plants for dense assemblies or individual plants, as well as for healthy or infested plants, was investigated in the field as in the laboratory. Years of field research have revealed the specific preferences of all three species of aphid. A. pisum and T. trifolii are most commonly found in alfalfa crops, while A. craccivora is mostly found on alfalfa weeds. Also, a single species of aphid alone is usually present on a plant. In order to determine the reason for this clear preference and to establish whether at the very beginning, i.e. at the stage of choosing a host, aphid species distance themselves from each other, we tested the effect of the volatiles of healthy and infested plants on their attractiveness to aphids. A. craccivora is repelled by the volatiles of dense crops and plants previously inf...ested with one of the other two species. A. pisum and T. trifolii choose a dense assembly of plants, repelled by the volatiles of plants previously infested with A. craccivora. A. pisum displays the weakest competitive traits, and A. craccivora the strongest. This research showed that competition between aphid species does not occur only when they find themselves on the same plant at the same time, fighting for resources, but also in the choice of plant, in order to avoid later competition.
Keywords:
Therioaphis trifolii / host plant selection / competition / Aphis craccivora / aphids / alfalfa / Acyrthosiphon pisumSource:
Bulletin of Entomological Research, 2023, 10Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Funding / projects:
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia, Grant no. 200116 (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture) (RS-200116)
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia, Grant no. 200214 (Institue of Pesticides and Environmental Protection, Belgrade) (RS-200214)
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia, Grant no. 200054 (Research and Development Institute TAMIS) (RS-200054)
Collections
Institution/Community
Istraživačko razvojni institut TAMIŠTY - JOUR AU - Radonjić, A AU - Jovičić, I AU - Lalićević, Ivana AU - Petrović-Obradović, O. PY - 2023 UR - https://intam.institut-tamis.rs/handle/123456789/237 AB - Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) hosts several species of aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), Aphis craccivora Koch and Therioaphis trifolii (Monell). The preference of the aphids of alfalfa plants for dense assemblies or individual plants, as well as for healthy or infested plants, was investigated in the field as in the laboratory. Years of field research have revealed the specific preferences of all three species of aphid. A. pisum and T. trifolii are most commonly found in alfalfa crops, while A. craccivora is mostly found on alfalfa weeds. Also, a single species of aphid alone is usually present on a plant. In order to determine the reason for this clear preference and to establish whether at the very beginning, i.e. at the stage of choosing a host, aphid species distance themselves from each other, we tested the effect of the volatiles of healthy and infested plants on their attractiveness to aphids. A. craccivora is repelled by the volatiles of dense crops and plants previously infested with one of the other two species. A. pisum and T. trifolii choose a dense assembly of plants, repelled by the volatiles of plants previously infested with A. craccivora. A. pisum displays the weakest competitive traits, and A. craccivora the strongest. This research showed that competition between aphid species does not occur only when they find themselves on the same plant at the same time, fighting for resources, but also in the choice of plant, in order to avoid later competition. PB - Cambridge University Press T2 - Bulletin of Entomological Research T1 - Factors affecting host plant selection in alfalfa aphids VL - 10 DO - 10.1017/S0007485323000093 UR - conv_205 ER -
@article{ author = "Radonjić, A and Jovičić, I and Lalićević, Ivana and Petrović-Obradović, O.", year = "2023", abstract = "Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) hosts several species of aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), Aphis craccivora Koch and Therioaphis trifolii (Monell). The preference of the aphids of alfalfa plants for dense assemblies or individual plants, as well as for healthy or infested plants, was investigated in the field as in the laboratory. Years of field research have revealed the specific preferences of all three species of aphid. A. pisum and T. trifolii are most commonly found in alfalfa crops, while A. craccivora is mostly found on alfalfa weeds. Also, a single species of aphid alone is usually present on a plant. In order to determine the reason for this clear preference and to establish whether at the very beginning, i.e. at the stage of choosing a host, aphid species distance themselves from each other, we tested the effect of the volatiles of healthy and infested plants on their attractiveness to aphids. A. craccivora is repelled by the volatiles of dense crops and plants previously infested with one of the other two species. A. pisum and T. trifolii choose a dense assembly of plants, repelled by the volatiles of plants previously infested with A. craccivora. A. pisum displays the weakest competitive traits, and A. craccivora the strongest. This research showed that competition between aphid species does not occur only when they find themselves on the same plant at the same time, fighting for resources, but also in the choice of plant, in order to avoid later competition.", publisher = "Cambridge University Press", journal = "Bulletin of Entomological Research", title = "Factors affecting host plant selection in alfalfa aphids", volume = "10", doi = "10.1017/S0007485323000093", url = "conv_205" }
Radonjić, A., Jovičić, I., Lalićević, I.,& Petrović-Obradović, O.. (2023). Factors affecting host plant selection in alfalfa aphids. in Bulletin of Entomological Research Cambridge University Press., 10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485323000093 conv_205
Radonjić A, Jovičić I, Lalićević I, Petrović-Obradović O. Factors affecting host plant selection in alfalfa aphids. in Bulletin of Entomological Research. 2023;10. doi:10.1017/S0007485323000093 conv_205 .
Radonjić, A, Jovičić, I, Lalićević, Ivana, Petrović-Obradović, O., "Factors affecting host plant selection in alfalfa aphids" in Bulletin of Entomological Research, 10 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485323000093 ., conv_205 .