Some Host Plants of the Green Peach Aphid and Beet Western Yellows Virus in the Pacific Northwest12

Abstract

Thirty-one species in 8 families of weeds and cultivated plants were found to be hosts of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), and the beet western yellows virus in the Northwest. Most of the plants were in the Cruciferae and Compositae families, many of which are perennial or autumn-sprouted annuals that serve as overwintering sources of beet western yellows. Probably the most important overwintering source of beet western yellows is the sugar beet itself: infected volunteer beets in 2nd-year beet fields are a readily available source of virus to the new crop; also beets growing in tare piles are an overwintering source of the virus. Wild plants that grow in protected areas such as drainage ditches provide a means of overwintering to both the green peach aphid and the beet western yellows virus.