Abstract
The cabbage whitefly Aleyrodes proletella (L.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is an important pest of a wide range of vegetable Brassicas. Since the control of this pest is still challenging, new approaches such as the use of resistant cultivars are required. For this, we screened 16 commercialised Brussels sprout cultivars for resistance against this species. Antibiosis was tested with no-choice experiments in a climate chamber, using reproduction, mortality, longevity, developmental time and weight as parameters. Antixenosis was screened in three choice experiments with circular design in a greenhouse to detect cultivar preferences. A field trial with both antibiosis and antixenosis tests was done to verify results under natural conditions. Finally, for several cultivars, also the leaf glucosinolate concentrations were analysed. Cabbage whiteflies showed on certain cultivars significantly increased mortality, prolonged developmental times and reduced weights. Besides, some cultivars were significantly less infested. However, the incidence of antibiosis and antixenosis as well as the glucosinolate patterns were partly inconsistent. Although a number of moderately resistant cultivars could be identified, the detected resistance is certainly not strong and consistent enough as an exclusive measure of a plant protection strategy but might become a component of a multi-layered strategy against cabbage whiteflies.
Highlights
In the last decade, the cabbage whitefly Aleyrodes proletella (L.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) (CWF)developed to an economically important pest on several Brassica crops, such as Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea L. var. gemmifera DC.), kale (B. oleracea L. var. acephala DC. f. sabellica L.), or Savoy cabbage (B. oleracea L. var. sabauda L.)
The number of eggs (Figure S1) had a similar distribution compared to adults with a similar sequence of cultivars having a high number of eggs or not; further, the differences were not significant (GLM, F(15,220) = 7.03, p = 0.7817)
Our results indicate that some commercialised Brussels sprout cultivars show at least a partial resistance against cabbage whitefly infestations
Summary
The cabbage whitefly Aleyrodes proletella (L.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) (CWF)developed to an economically important pest on several Brassica crops, such as Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea L. var. gemmifera DC.), kale (B. oleracea L. var. acephala DC. f. sabellica L.), or Savoy cabbage (B. oleracea L. var. sabauda L.). The cabbage whitefly Aleyrodes proletella (L.) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) (CWF). Developed to an economically important pest on several Brassica crops, such as Brussels sprout The infestation causes substantial quality loss of the harvest due to large amounts of honeydew, exuvae and later growth of sooty moulds wax when pest population densities are high, but yield loss is significant [1,2]. The reasons for the development of CWF to a major pest on cabbages are still uncertain, it is thought that milder winters and the huge increase of oilseed rape cultivation serving as a suitable winter host for this species play a decisive role [3,4,5,6]. The biology of this species with 4–5 generations per year, the protected mode of life (beneath leaves) and the possibility to disperse over large distances [3,5] might have added to its success.
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