Problems of monitoring aphids as virus vectors when growing meristem potatoes in the Leningrad Region as an example

Abstract

The paper summarizes results of the monitoring performed using yellow water traps to estimate the species composition and number of aphid vectors of a viral infection during the cultivation of meristem potatoes (microplants and mini-tubers) in the Leningrad Region in 2013, 2016–2017. It is found that the number of species abundance and aphid number varies from the conditions of the year. In the year of low (2016) and high abundance (2017), there were 20 and 30 species recorded, respectively. At the same time, all five major potato-associated species (Aphis fabae Scop., A. nasturtii Kalt., Aulacorthum solani Kalt., Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas, Myzus persicae Sulz) were observed in 2013 and 2017, while in 2016, there were only 2 of them: A. fabae and A. nasturtii. The number of aphids caught in the traps was different depending on their location. The largest number of insects was caught in traps located on the border of the territory in front of personal plots and this should be considered when a monitoring is being planned. In greenhouses, individual aphids were noted only in a year of high abundance, regardless of the intensity of insecticide use or the use of the entomophage complex to control the aphids. Microplants and mini-tubers were found negative for the presence of viral infections using ELISA in all greenhouses. This can be therefore recommended to reduce the insecticidal load in the greenhouses and around them by increasing the rate of useful arthropods exploitation.