TY - JOUR
T1 - Temporal and spatial variability of rosy apple aphid Dysaphis plantaginea populations
T2 - Is there a role of the alternate host plant Plantago major?
AU - Brown, Amanda
AU - Myers, Judith H.
PY - 2010/11
Y1 - 2010/11
N2 - 1 The rosy apple aphid Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini) (Homoptera: Aphididae) is a pest of economic importance to the apple industry worldwide, particularly in organic apple orchards where no acceptable controls are available. In the Similkameen Valley of British Columbia, Canada, the rosy apple aphid population size varies widely between orchards and between years. To explain this variation, potential environmental correlates of aphid density were evaluated. The architecture of the alternate host was also evaluated for its effect on rosy apple aphid summer survival and reproduction. 2 The percentage of trees infested by rosy apple aphids among orchards was in the range 8-94% for trees having at least one cluster with more than ten aphids in 2007 and in the range 0-39% in 2008. 3 A general linear model correlating aphid densities to the environmental variables of abundance of the alternate host (plantain Plantago spp.), foliar nitrogen, tree age and planting density, and reduced by stepwise regression, indicated that foliar nitrogen and tree age explained 33% of the variation. Abundance of the summer, alternate food plant, plantain, was not related to later aphid densities on apple trees. 4 Plantain architecture, however, influenced aphid numbers and 25-fold more aphids were found on low-lying plantain leaves than on more upright leaves. Experimental manipulation of leaf angle and leaf size showed that significantly more aphids occurred on low angle, large leaves. Finally, mowing that encouraged low lying plants prior to spring aphid migration was associated with a four-fold greater number of both winged and wingless aphids on the plantain.
AB - 1 The rosy apple aphid Dysaphis plantaginea (Passerini) (Homoptera: Aphididae) is a pest of economic importance to the apple industry worldwide, particularly in organic apple orchards where no acceptable controls are available. In the Similkameen Valley of British Columbia, Canada, the rosy apple aphid population size varies widely between orchards and between years. To explain this variation, potential environmental correlates of aphid density were evaluated. The architecture of the alternate host was also evaluated for its effect on rosy apple aphid summer survival and reproduction. 2 The percentage of trees infested by rosy apple aphids among orchards was in the range 8-94% for trees having at least one cluster with more than ten aphids in 2007 and in the range 0-39% in 2008. 3 A general linear model correlating aphid densities to the environmental variables of abundance of the alternate host (plantain Plantago spp.), foliar nitrogen, tree age and planting density, and reduced by stepwise regression, indicated that foliar nitrogen and tree age explained 33% of the variation. Abundance of the summer, alternate food plant, plantain, was not related to later aphid densities on apple trees. 4 Plantain architecture, however, influenced aphid numbers and 25-fold more aphids were found on low-lying plantain leaves than on more upright leaves. Experimental manipulation of leaf angle and leaf size showed that significantly more aphids occurred on low angle, large leaves. Finally, mowing that encouraged low lying plants prior to spring aphid migration was associated with a four-fold greater number of both winged and wingless aphids on the plantain.
KW - Alternate host
KW - Apple IPM
KW - Cultural control
KW - Organic
KW - Plant architecture
KW - Rosy apple aphid
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78649561833&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1461-9563.2010.00477.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1461-9563.2010.00477.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78649561833
VL - 12
SP - 333
EP - 341
JO - Agricultural and Forest Entomology
JF - Agricultural and Forest Entomology
SN - 1461-9555
IS - 4
ER -