We examined temporal patterns of settling by apterous Myzus persicae Sulzer on leaves of 3 host plant species that were virus-free or infected with potato leafroll virus (PLRV), potato virus X (PVX), or potato virus Y (PVY). A 60-h exposure period to the choice of leaves was provided in a cylindrical Plexiglas arena that allowed repeated observations through time without disturbance to the aphids. Significantly greater numbers of apterae settled on PLRV-infected Solanum tuberosum (L.) leaves compared with PVX- or PVY-infected leaves, or virus-free leaves. No significant differences among the same virus treatments were observed when the plant hosts were Physalis floridana Rybd. or Datura stramonium (L.) Significant treatment by time effects were observed in the S. tuberosum and D. stramonium experiments only. Nymph counts on the various leaf treatments at the end of experiments corroborated overall patterns of apterae settling. In light of previous work demonstrating the superior performance of M. persicae on PLRV-infected S. tuberosum plants, the current findings are discussed with regard to the nature of the association between M. persicae and the circulative virus PLRV relative to either the stylet-borne virus PVY or the nonvectored virus PVX.
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Castle et al. (1998) studied this question.