The behavior and performance of the Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis no&r (Mordvilko), on fungal endophyte-infected and endophyte-free perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne L., was investigated in the laboratory and field. Aphids did not select endophytefree over endophyte-infected leaf sheaths and stem segments in petri dish preference tests. Similarly, the probing behavior of D. noxia on endophyte...

Aphids possess several facultative bacterial symbionts that have important effects on their hosts' biology. These have been most closely studied in the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum), a species that feeds on multiple host plants. Whether secondary symbionts influence host plant utilization is unclear. We report the fitness consequences of introducing different strains of the symbiont Hamiltone...

Aphids are the most common vector of plant viruses, and their feeding behavior is an important determinant of virus transmission. Positive effects of global change on aphid performance have been documented, but effects on aphid behavior are not known. We assessed the plant-mediated behavioral responses of a generalist aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), to increased CO2 and n...

Aphids are economically important pests that display exceptional variation in host range. The determinants of diverse aphid host ranges are not well understood, but it is likely that molecular interactions are involved. With significant progress being made towards understanding host responses upon aphid attack, the mechanisms underlying non-host resistance remain to be elucidated. Here, we inve...

A variety of management methods to control the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) have been investigated since its invasion into North America in 2000, among them plant resistance has emerged as a viable option for reducing aphid damage to soybeans and preventing outbreaks. Plant resistance methods often use natural soybean plant defenses that impose stress on aphids by reducing fitness a...

The black-bean aphid Aphis fabae bears populations of coccoid symbiotic bacteria Buchnera spp. at 2.0-3.2 x 10(7)cells mg(-1)aphid mass and rod-shaped secondary symbionts of uncertain taxonomic affiliation at 0.1-0.6 x 10(7)cells mg(-1)aphid mass. Buchnera provides essential amino acids, supplementing the poor supply in the aphid diet of plant phloem sap. Comparison of the performance of A. fab...

the performance and flight behavior of the potato aphid macrosiphum euphorbiae was studied on the 'superior-bt' line transgenic for the cryiiia toxin of bacillus thuringien-sis (bt), resistant to the colorado potato beetle; and non transformed 'superior' line which served as control. mortality of the treated aphids was negligible and potato lines did not affect the development time of m. euphor...

The aphid Myzus persicae displays high mortality on tobacco plants bearing a transgene which results in the accumulation of the ketosteroids cholestan-3-one and cholest-4-en-3-one in the phloem sap. To test whether the ketosteroids are the basis of the plant resistance to the aphids, M. persicae were reared on chemically-defined diets with different steroid contents at 0.1-10 µg ml(-1). Relativ...