Comparison of the performance of Cicadulina leafhoppers on flight mills with that to be expected in free flight

Flight mills are commonly used to assess the relative flight performance of migratory insects, but uncertainties about the rate of energy expenditure on the mill mean that absolute estimates of flight endurance are not usually attempted. In this paper we describe how we measured the power delivered to a lightweight flight mill by tethered Cicadulina storeyi China leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), and compared this to estimates of the power they use to maintain free flight. Our results showed that the leafhoppers were generating more than 0.90 W of mechanical power when on the mill, and that they probably have 3–4 W available for free flight. We conclude that whilst flying on the mill, the insects were generating at least 20–30% of the mechanical power needed for free flight, and that this percentage may have been significantly higher.     

六种寄主植物对二点叶蝉生长发育和繁殖的影响

在25℃恒温条件下,以盆栽玉米、小麦、高粱、水稻、谷子、大麦及虮子草为食料,研究了食物对二点叶蝉实验种群生长发育及繁殖的影响．结果表明,二点叶蝉在虮子草上不能完成世代发育．在其余6种寄主植物上各虫态的发育历期、存活率、雌成虫寿命及单雌平均产卵量存在显著差异．从卵到若虫期的发育历期在高粱上最短(24．1d),玉米上次之(24．2d),小麦上最长(25．5d);取食水稻时。若虫的存活率(40．8％)最低,成虫寿命最短(12．2d),单雌平均产卵量(12．3粒)也显著低于其它5种寄主植物．用生命表参数综合评价表明,6种寄主植物中,谷子和玉米最适合二点叶蝉生长发育及繁殖。其次分别为高粱、大麦、小麦、水稻。     

Intercrops, Cicadulina spp., and maize streak virus disease

Intercrops of bean and finger millet were tested as a possible means of controlling maize streak virus disease (MSVD) in maize by disrupting the mating behaviour of the insect vectors of the maize streak virus, Cicadulina mbila and C. storeyi. A series of three trials were done. In the first, MSVD incidence 2 months after sowing was reduced to 14.9% and 17.4% in millet and bean intercrops compared to 29.5% in the pure maize stand. The number of male Cicadulina spp. caught on sticky pole traps was also significantly reduced relative to the control, but there was little effect on the catch of females. There was no significant yield penalty for the millet intercrop but maize yield was 49% lower in the bean intercrop treatment than in the pure stand. In the second trial, there were two millet and two bean intercrop treatments and a maize only control. Fewer male Cicadulina spp. were caught in the intercrop treatments relative to the control but MSVD incidence was reduced in one millet intercrop treatment only for which the associated maize yield penalty was 89%. In the final trial the bean intercrop was again tested but it had no effect on MSVD incidence. These experiments demonstrated that intercropping maize with bean or millet decreased vector activity and/or vector numbers. Vector catches were predominantly male, and catches of males but not females were reduced in the intercrop treatments compared with pure stands. However the lower vector catch was not consistently associated with a significant reduction in MSVD incidence, and when it was there was often an associated yield penalty in the maize due to the intercrop.     

Symptoms,epidemiology and management of finger millet mottle streak disease

Abstract

Initial symptoms of the mottle streak disease on finger millet were observed after only 45 days of sowing. Chlorotic mottling, streaking, striping and yellowing were the common symptoms on leaves and the diseased plants had more nodal branches and unproductive tillers. Among the weather parameters relative humidity and rainfall were positively and wind velocity was negatively correlated with disease incidence and the population of the vector Cicadulina bipunctella. A significant positive correlation existed between the vector population and disease incidence. In the disease management study seed extract of Harpullia cupanioides at 10% was found to reduce the mottle streak incidence by 61.42% with maximum yield of 2.28 t/ha. Acephate 0.01% and neem oil 1% spray were also found to be effective by reducing the disease incidence up to 39.6 and 36.4% with 2.23 and 2.18 t/ha of grain yield respectively. Enhanced activation of defense-related enzymes such as peroxidase (PO), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) were noticed in AVP sprayed plants compared to control.     

Oviposition site preference and developmental performance of a gall‐inducing leafhopper on galled and non‐galled host plants

Oviposition preferences of herbivorous insects affect offspring performance. Both positive and negative links between oviposition preference and offspring performance have been reported for many species. A gall‐inducing leafhopper, Cicadulina bipunctata Melichar (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), feeds on various Poaceae plants and induces galls of enhanced nutritional value for their offspring. Although gall induction by C. bipunctata improves nymphal performance, the oviposition preference of females between galled and non‐galled host plants is still unclear. In this paper, the nymphal performance and oviposition and feeding‐site preference of C. bipunctata were investigated using galled wheat, Triticum aestivum L., and non‐galled barley, Hordeum vulgare L., as host plants. The survival rate of C. bipunctata on wheat was significantly higher than on barley. In the choice test, significantly more eggs were laid into barley, whereas the number of eggs deposited on both hosts was not significantly different in the no‐choice test. The number of settling individuals per leaf area was not significantly different between wheat and barley, suggesting no clear preference for oviposition between these plants. Experience as a nymph with a growing host did not affect oviposition preference as adult female. The inconsistent correspondence between offspring performance and oviposition preference of C. bipunctata may reflect the high mobility of nymphs and/or differences in leaf area between host plants. The results indicate that the previous finding that oviposition preference and offspring performance are not always positively correlated in herbivorous insects is applicable to gall‐inducing insects.     

玉米鼠耳病及其媒介昆虫二点叶蝉消长动态和玉米受害损失测定

对四川省南充市仪陇县二点时蝉及其所传播的玉米鼠耳病的田间消长规律以及玉米受害后的产量损失状况进行了研究。结果表明：温度低于16℃时,玉米不发病;28℃和31℃时玉米鼠耳病的潜伏期较短,分别为4．85和4．64d。在高、中、低3个海拔高度上,玉米鼠耳病的田间消长动态受二点叶蝉种群发生动态的影响,并于5月下旬至6月上旬达到最大病情指数,分别为5．75、10．97和9．09。玉米的生长和产量均受到玉米鼠耳病发生程度的影响,随着该病病级的上升,玉米株高、地面直径、穗长、穗粗、穗粒数、穗粒重及千粒重均相应下降。通过二元线性回归方程对玉米单穗籽粒重损失率作通径分析,表明在玉米的产量构成中．千粒重下降是导致产量损失的主要因子。     

玉米鼠耳病及其介体二点叶蝉研究进展

玉米鼠耳病（Maize wauaby ear disease,MWED）是由介体昆虫二点叶蝉Cicadulina biptmctella（Mats）、Cicadulina bimaculata（Evans）以及Nesodutha pallida（Evans）传播的一种重要系统性植物病害。该病最早发生在澳大利亚昆士兰,20世纪80年代以来在我国四川、贵州省和重庆市的多个县（市）爆发,近年来又在日本九州、冲绳等地区发生,均造成了严重的经济损失。玉米鼠耳病的发生发展与介体叶蝉源的生物学和生态学特性、传毒规律、玉米品种、玉米生育期、环境条件以及栽培措施等密切相关。因此,切断传播途径、减少毒原、栽培抗性品种、选择合理的栽培措施是有效降低该病发生危害的重要措施。从玉米鼠耳病的发生发展、病原,介体二点叶蝉源的生物学和生态学特性、传毒规律以及防治措施等方面综述了国内外二点叶蝉及玉米鼠耳病的研究现状,以期为玉米鼠耳病及其介体叶蝉的研究与防治工作提供参考。     

二点叶蝉自然种群的时空动态

选择受密度影响较小的负二项分布K值 ,描述玉米上二点叶蝉自然种群在 3个海拔高度上的空间格局及时序动态。在玉米生育期间 ,二点叶蝉种群即可作聚集分布亦可作均匀分布。 4月中下旬 ,二点叶蝉种群呈均匀分布 (K <0 ) ;5月份 ,呈聚集分布 (K >0 ) ;6月上中旬呈均匀分布 (K <0 ) ;6月下旬至 7月上旬呈聚集分布 (K >0 ) ,表现为扩散→聚集→再扩散→再聚集的总趋势。K值亦表明 ,5月份高海拔聚集强度最高 ,6月下旬至 7月上旬则低海拔的聚集强度最高。根据Taylor的幂函数法和Iwao的M -X回归方程的系数 ,高、中海拔的聚集强度大于低海拔     

Incidence and infection rate of Maize streak virus disease by Cicadulina triangular on maize plants and its distribution from the lowest diseased leaf under tropical conditions

Several programmes have been initiated for the development of maize varieties with resistance traits of Maize streak virus (MSV) by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, and have been released to farmers and research scientists. Therefore, a survey was conducted in five states in the south west of Nigeria (Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun) during the raining planting season to determine the incidence of MSV disease by visual examination and sero-diagnostic screening of symptomatic plants. The determination of infection rate of MSV disease by Cicadulina triangular on maize plant and its distribution from the lowest diseased leaf was also studied. The mean MSV disease incidence observed in these states was 35.95% which confirms the presence of MSV in the south west of Nigeria. Sero-diagnostic screening of virus-induced symptomatic leaf samples indicated that out of the 250 leaves sampled per state, 24.4% tested positive for MSV in Oyo, 25.6% in Ondo, 34% in Ogun, 19.6% in Ekiti and 38.8% in Osun. In two-week-old plants, symptoms developed on the leaves that were emerging at the time of inoculation, while in six-week-old plants, symptoms developed on the leaves directly below the emerging leaves irrespective of the number of C. triangular used. These suggest that the lowermost leaf with symptoms of the disease indicates the growth stage at which a plant was infected. There was a relationship between symptom expression and plant age which could be very effective when carrying out surveys to gather information for epidemiological studies. In addition, the 10 varieties of maize inoculated with MSV through C. triangular transmission showed no significant difference in disease severity over time irrespective of the number of C. triangular used.     

Assessment of yield losses as a result of co-infection by maize streak virus and maize stripe virus in Mauritius

The effect of co-infection by maize streak virus (MSV) and maize stripe virus (MStV) on plant growth and grain yield was investigated in a susceptible variety of maize (Zea mays), ZS 5206, in Mauritius. Under natural conditions MSV, transmitted by the leafhopper Cicadulina mbila, was normally established before MStV, which is vectored by the planthopper Peregrinus maidis; as a result, MStV symptoms were often partially or completely masked by those of MSV, making MStV detection by symptomatology very unreliable. MSV and MStV were diagnosed by ELISA and MStV by a novel method of detecting the MStV-coded non-capsid protein. The maize hybrid ZS 5206 was inoculated with either MSV, MStV or both, at two stages in the growth cycle (3–5 or 7–10 leaf stage). A greater reduction in plant growth was observed in plants inoculated singly with MStV (80% and 29% for first and second stage, respectively) than with MSV (50% and 23%, respectively). No cobs were produced by plants singly infected with MStV at the first stage, or co-infected with MSV and MStV at both stages; however, marginal grain production was recorded in plants singly infected with MSV at the first stage (91% reduction), or infected either with MSV or MStV, at the second stage (65% and 80% reduction, respectively). In maize hybrid ZS 5206, MStV is more virulent than MSV; co-infection by both viruses causes greater reductions in plant growth and grain yield than single infection by either virus at a given stage of plant development. In the event of co-infection by MSV and MStV, yield losses can be erroneously attributed to MSV only if the symptoms of MStV are masked by those of the former and if adequate methods for MStV detection are not used.