Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Homoptera: Aphididae) feeding preference and performance on cool-season food legumes in northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Pea aphids severely constrain food legume production in Ethiopia. Pea aphid preference and performance on common legume crops (field pea, faba bean, lentil and grass pea) were tested with no-choice, dual- and multiple-choice experiments under greenhouse conditions in northwestern Ethiopia. The results revealed that pea aphids preferred field peas, lentils and grass peas more than faba bean. Growth rate of pea aphids varied with crop variety and plant growth stage. Field pea and lentils died within 30 d. Cumulative pea aphid load was higher on field pea and grass pea than on faba bean and lentil. In the no-choice experiment, the mean pea aphid number per five plants ranged between 1.8 at 5 d after aphid infestation (DAI) on improved faba bean and 321.5 at 20 DAI on local field pea. In the dual- and multiple-choice experiments, aphids required less than 1 d to infest field pea, lentil and grass pea plants, and 4–11 d to infest faba bean. No variety was immune to infestation, but overall, field peas and grass peas were good hosts for culturing pea aphids. Growing susceptible crops in pea aphid hot spot areas may have to be avoided in favor of less preferred ones.