Long-term effects on cowpea plant growth of a short-term cowpea aphid infestation

Abstract

Two-week-old cowpea seedlings (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) were infested with cowpea aphids (Aphis craccivora Koch (Homoptera: Aphididae)) for 5, 10, 15, and 20 days at which time the aphids were removed with a systemic insecticide. The seedlings were then allowed to grow for another 3 months. By day 10, plant dry weights, mean relative growth rates [Formula: see text], and mean unit leaf rates (Ē) were all significantly reduced in the infested plants, and these relationships still held at day 20. Apparent decreases in photosynthesis and (or) increases in respiration were the primary causes of these reductions. There were no significant differences between control and experimental treatments for [Formula: see text] calculated from day 0, and total number of seeds and seed pods produced at the end of the study. Control plants had significantly more mature seed pods and seeds, while formerly infested plants had significantly more mature and unripe seeds per pod, more unripe seed pods and seeds produced, and greater values for [Formula: see text] from the time of aphid removal until the end of the experiment. This latter increase in [Formula: see text] indicates a form of compensatory growth. It is proposed that the compensatory growth of previously infested plants and ultimate similarity in seed production, as compared with control plants, may have resulted from aphid-induced changes via nonhormonal compounds acting as phytohormone regulators. The different durations of aphid infestation used had no detectable effect on long-term growth.