Observations on host preferences and epidemiology of aphid species associated with legume crops

Abstract

Abstract During spring–summer 1979–80,bait plants consisting of peas (Pisum sativum L.), dwarf beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), broad beans (Vicia faba L.), and subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) were set out and replaced at weekly intervals in the middle of a lucerne crop, a clover crop, and a pea crop. 13 species of aphid were collected from the bait plants. Six of them were considered to be legume aphids∶ in decreasing order of frequency, Myzus persicae Sulz., Acyrthosiphon kondoi Shinji,Aulacorthum solani Kltb., Aphis craccivoa Koch, Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris, and Macrosiphum euphorbiae C. Thomas. M. persicae was found most frequently on dwarf bean and pea, and A.kondoi on dwarf bean and clover. A.solani occurred at a similar frequency on all bait plants except clover, where very few were found. A. pisum preferred broad beans to clover and peas and was least frequent on dwarf beans. As expected, A. craccivora was most commonly found on broad beans. M.euphorbiae was found in low numbers on ...