A new species of Metopeurum Mordvilko, 1914 (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from the Transcaucasus, with a key to the species of this genus.

The new aphid species Metopeurum caucasicum sp. nov. living on Achillea millefolium and five species of Tanacetum, namely T.

Complex evolution in Aphis gossypii group (Hemiptera: Aphididae), evidence of primary host shift and hybridization between sympatric species.

Aphids provide a good model system to understand the ecological speciation concept, since the majority of the species are host-specific, and they spend their entire lifecycle on certain groups of host plants. Aphid species that apparently have wide host plant ranges have often turned out to be complexes of host-specialized biotypes. Here we investigated the various host-associated populations of the two recently diverged species, Aphis gossypii and A.

Mismatch repair deficiency increases the transfer of antibiosis and antixenosis properties against Colorado potato beetle in somatic hybrids of Solanum tuberosum + S. chacoense.

Background: Colorado potato beetle (CPB) has become the biggest enemy of cultivated potato worldwide. One of the most effective sources of resistance to CPB is Solanum chacoense, an accession with a high leptine glycoalkaloid content. The aim of our study was to assay the repellence and toxicity of S.

Molecular taxonomic analysis of the plant associations of adult pollen beetles (Nitidulidae: Meligethinae), and the population structure of Brassicogethes aeneus.

Pollen beetles (Nitidulidae: Meligethinae) are among the most abundant flower-visiting insects in Europe. While some species damage millions of hectares of crops annually, the biology of many species is little known. We assessed the utility of a 797 base pair fragment of the cytochrome oxidase 1 gene to resolve molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) in 750 adult pollen beetles sampled from flowers of 63 plant species sampled across the UK and continental Europe.

Testing the fecundity advantage hypothesis with Sitobion avenae, Rhopalosiphum padi, and Schizaphis graminum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) feeding on ten wheat accessions.

The fecundity advantage hypothesis suggests that females with a large body size produce more offspring than smaller females. We tested this hypothesis by exploring the correlations between life-history traits of three aphid species feeding on ten wheat accessions at three levels of analysis with respect to the host plant: overall, inter-accession, and intra-accession. We found that fecundity was significantly correlated with mean relative growth rate (MRGR), weight gain, and development time, and that the faster aphid develops the greater body and fecundity, depending on aphid species, wheat accession, and analyses level.

Comparison of the potential rate of population increase of brown and green color morphs of Sitobion avenae (Homoptera: Aphididae) on barley infected and uninfected with Barley yellow dwarf virus.

Life tables of brown and green color morphs of the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) reared on barley under laboratory conditions at 20 ± 1°C, 65% ± 5% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 16 : 8 h (L : D) were compared. The plants were either: (i) infected with the Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV); (ii) not infected with virus but previously infested with aphids; or (iii) healthy barley plants, which were not previously infested with aphids. Generally, both color morphs of S.

Analysis of complete genomes of isolates of the Wheat dwarf virus from new geographical locations and descriptions of their defective forms.

Recently, the importance of the Geminiviruses infecting cereal crops has been appreciated, and they are now being studied in detail. Barley and wheat strains of Wheat dwarf virus are recorded in most European countries. Information on complete sequences of isolates from the United Kingdom, Spain, and Austria are reported here for the first time.

Modification of non-vector aphid feeding behavior on virus-infected host plant.

Virus-infected host plants can have positive, neutral or negative effects on vector aphids. Even though the proportion of non-vector aphids associated with a plant far exceeds that of vector species, little is known about the effect of virus-infected plants on non-vector aphids. In the present study, the English grain aphid Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a non-vector of Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) and Cereal yellow dwarf virus-RPV (CYDV-RPV), was monitored on, virus-infected, virus-free and leafhopper/aphid-infested, and virus- and insect-free (control) barley, Hordeum vulgare L.

The effects of enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation on the biology of green and brown morphs of Sitobion avenae (Hemiptera: Aphididae).

The effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on the biology of green and brown morphs of Sitobion avenae (F.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) were tested under laboratory conditions. The two S.

Characterization of the multiple resistance traits of somatic hybrids between Solanum cardiophyllum Lindl. and two commercial potato cultivars.

Interspecific somatic hybrids between commercial cultivars of potato Solanum tuberosum L. Agave and Delikat and the wild diploid species Solanum cardiophyllum Lindl. (cph) were produced by protoplast electrofusion.

Novel somatic hybrids (Solanum tuberosum L.+Solanum tarnii) and their fertile BC1 progenies express extreme resistance to potato virus Y and late blight.

Solanum tarnii, a wild diploid, tuber-bearing Mexican species belonging to the series Pinnatisecta is highly resistant to Potato virus Y (PVY) and Colorado potato beetle and shows a strong hypersensitive reaction to Phytophthora infestans. Therefore, it could be a potential source of resistance to pathogens for potato breeders. S.