Simulation modelling of potato virus Y spread in relation to initial inoculum and vector activity

Potato virus Y(PVY)is a non-persistent virus that is transmitted by many aphid species and causes significant damage to potato production.We constructed a spatially-explicit model simulating PVY spread in a potato field and used it to investigate possible effects of transmission efficiency,initial inoculum levels,vector behavior,vector abundance,and timing of peak vector activity on PVY incidence at the end of a simulated growing season.Lower PVY incidence in planted seed resulted in lower virus infection at the end of the season.However,when populations of efficient PVY vectors were high,significant PVY spread occurred even when initial virus inoculum was low.Non-colonizing aphids were more important for PVY spread compared to colonizing aphids,particularly at high densities.An early-season peak in the numbers of noncolonizing aphids resulted in the highest number of infected plants in the end of the season,while mid-and late-season peaks caused relatively little virus spread.Our results highlight the importance of integrating different techniques to prevent the number of PVY-infected plants from exceeding economically acceptable levels instead of trying to control aphids within potato fields.Such management plans should be implemented very early in a growing season.

Heat-induced mortality and expression of heat shock proteins in Colorado potato beetles treated with imidacloprid

The Colorado potato beetle is an important pest of solanaceous plants in the Northern Hemisphere. Better understanding of its physiological responses to temperature stress and their interactions with still-prevalent chemical control has important implications for the management of this insect. We measured mortality and expression of the Hsp70 heat shock proteins in the Colorado potato beetle larvae exposed to sublethal concentration of the commonly used insecticide imidacloprid, and to supraoptimal temperatures. Both turned out to be significant stress factors, although induction of Hsp70 by imidacloprid observed in the present study was low compared to its induction by the heat. The two factors also interacted with each other. At an extreme temperature of 43 ~C, exposure to a sublethal dose of imidacloprid resulted in a significant rise in larval mortality, which was not observed at an optimal temperature of 25 ~C. Heat-stressed larvae also failed to respond to imidacloprid by producing more Hsp70. These findings suggest that when field rates of insecticides become insufficient for killing the exposed beetles under optimal temperature conditions due to the evolution of resistance in beetle populations, they may still reduce the probability of resistant beetles surviving the heat shock created by using propane flamers as a rescue treatment.

Adult cannibalism in an oligophagous herbivore, the Colorado potato beetle

Cannibalism, or intraspecific predation, can play a major role in changing individual fitness and population processes. In insects, cannibalism frequently occurs across life stages, with cannibals consuming a smaller or more vulnerable stage. Predation of adult insects on one another is considered to be uncommon. We investigated adult cannibalism in the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata （Say）, which is an oligophagous herbivore specializing on plants in family Solanaceae, and an important agricultural pest. Under laboratory conditions, starvation and crowding encouraged teneral adults to feed upon each other, which reduced their weight loss during the period of starvation. However, pupae were attacked and consumed before adults. Injured beetles had a higher probability of being cannibalized than intact beetles. Males were more frequently attacked than females, but that appeared to be a function of their smaller size rather than other gender-specific traits. Cannibalizing eggs at a larval stage did not affect beetle propensity to cannibalize adults at an adult stage. When given a choice between conspecific adults and mealworrns, the beetles preferred to eat conspecifics. Cannibalistic behavior, including adult cannibalism, could be important for population persistence in this species.