Comparative Transmission of Potato Virus Y by Four Aphid Species That Infest Potato

Single aphids of four species were observed with a hand-lens until each had touched its proboscis once on a tobacco plant infected with potato virus Y and then once on a healthy tobacco plant. The time that the proboscis remained touching the plants in each case was recorded. This procedure required only a few minutes for each aphid, and sometimes it was completed in less than a minute. During this process, the successful transmissions of potato virus Y by single aphids of Myzus persicae (Sulz.), Aphis abbreviata Patch, Macrosiphum solanifolii (Ashm), and Myzus solani (Kltb.) were 55, 31, 9, and 4% respectively. Vector efficiency was not due to difference in feeding behavior of these species. When single infective aphids were transferred to a series of five plants at five-minute intervals, M. persicae caused more infections and remained infective longer than A. abbreviata.