Abstract
Identifying the plants aphids have fed on can increase our understanding of their roles in food webs, and help in improving management and implementation control strategies in agricultural systems. Field sampling and laboratory experiments were carried out to determine the stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15 N) in three different varieties of cotton and the aphids (Aphis gossypii) that fed on these varieties. The results were used to test the hypothesis that stable isotope signatures of aphids that have fed on different varieties of cotton differ. Two-dimensional plots of stable isotope signatures for aphids and the cotton varieties they fed on displayed a non-overlapping pattern, indicating that stable isotope signatures of the three cotton varieties and the aphids that fed on them differed. The results indicate that stable isotope analysis can potentially be used to identify aphids that have fed on different varieties of cotton. When the stable isotope signatures of diets clearly differ then it is highly likely the consumers will be distinguishable.
Highlights
Aphids are significant pests of agricultural crops worldwide and have a great economic effect mainly because of their rapid reproductive capacity and ability to manipulate host plant physiology (Powell et al, 2006; Goggin, 2007; Kuhlmann et al, 2013)
Analysis of the δ13C values revealed no significant differences in food chain 2 or food chain 3 (Fig. 2A, Table 2)
The δ13C values of aphids that fed on cotton variety 1 were significantly lower than those of cotton variety 1 (Fig. 2A, Table 2), the mean differences, or isotopic shifts, between trophic levels in food chain 1 were no more
Summary
Aphids are significant pests of agricultural crops worldwide and have a great economic effect mainly because of their rapid reproductive capacity and ability to manipulate host plant physiology (Powell et al, 2006; Goggin, 2007; Kuhlmann et al, 2013). Aphids are widely used as model organisms in studies on population dynamics, speciation and biological diversity (Powell et al, 2006). Gossypium spp., is a primary crop in Northern China, where this C3 plant is sown in summer and harvested in autumn. The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, is an important pest of cotton (Wu & Guo, 2005)
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