It has been claimed that plant architecture can alter aphid reproductive rates, but the mechanism driving this effect has not been identified. We studied interactions between plant architecture, aphid density, environmental conditions, and nutrient availability on the reproduction of pea aphids [Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris)] using four near-isogenic peas (Pisum sativum L.) that differ in morpho...

Aphids commonly harbor bacterial facultative symbionts that have a variety of effects upon their aphid hosts, including defense against hymenopteran parasitoids and fungal pathogens. The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is infected with the symbiont Arsenophonus sp., which has an unknown role in its aphid host. Our research goals were to document the infection fre...

Schizaphis graminum (green bug; GB) and Sipha flava (yellow sugarcane aphid; YSA) are two cereal aphid species with broad host ranges capable of establishing on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and several switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) cultivars. Switchgrass and sorghum are staple renewable bioenergy crops that are vulnerable to damage by aphids, therefore, identifying novel targets to control aphids...

Medicago truncatula is attacked by a broad range of insect herbivores including sieve-element feeders, cell content feeders, and chewing insects. In M. truncatula, genetic resistance against insects has to date been identified only against aphids: single dominant resistance genes have been identified conferring resistance against the pea aphid, bluegreen aphid, and spotted alfalfa aphid. Aphids...

Sustainable use of insect resistance in crops require insect resistance management plans that may include a refuge to limit the spread of virulence to this resistance. However, without a loss of fitness associated with virulence, a refuge may not prevent virulence from becoming fixed within a population of parthenogenetically reproducing insects like aphids. Aphid-resistance in soybeans (i.e., ...

Three DNA regions (ITS 1, LSU rRNA and GPD) of isolates from the insectpathogenic fungus genus Entomophthora originating from different fly (Diptera) and aphid (Hemiptera) host taxa were sequenced. The results documented a large genetic diversity among the fly-pathogenic Entomophthora and only minor differences among aphid-pathogenic Entomophthora. The evolutionary time of divergence of the fly...

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, is one of the most important economic pests affecting soybean production in Wisconsin and neighboring states. Since its discovery in 2000, the soybean aphid has become established in the North Central Region and presents a potential threat to the soybean industry. Insecticides are available for control of the soybean aphid, but are an additional prod...

The soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) is native to China and Japan, and was a new pest in Iowa in 2000. Aphid numbers were high in the 2001, but in 2002 and 2003, aphids appeared to be less of a problem. This small, yellow aphid has distinct black cornicles (“tailpipes”) on the tip of the abdomen and develops colonies on soybean plants as winged and wingless forms. Aphids feed through pi...

The impacts of infestation by the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) on sweetpotato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) settling on tomato were determined in seven separate experiments with whole plants and with detached leaves through manipulation of four factors: durations of aphid infestation, density of aphids, intervals between aphid removal after different durations of infestation and the time of w...

In 2013, the sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a new invasive pest of sorghum species in North America, was confirmed on sorghum in 4 states and 38 counties in the United States. In 2015, the aphid was reported on sorghum in 17 states and over 400 counties as well as all sorghum-producing regions in Mexico. Ability to overwinter on living annual and perenni...