| Abstract: | ABSTRACT. Orientation responses of adult apterous virginoparae of Cryptomyzus korschelti Börner were recorded using a locomotion-compensator in front of a wind tunnel. Individual aphids were tested under four consecutive treatments: without wind; clean wind; and wind carrying odour of the host plant Stachys sylvatica or odour of a non-host plant Solanum tuberosum. The walking tracks were tortuous in all treatments except when the odour of host plants was used. Host plant odour induced upwind orientation of aphids (odour-conditioned positive anemotaxis). Track variables such as vector length, straightness, upwind time and upwind length, increased when the aphids moved upwind. Walking speeds were not affected. The simultaneous stimulation by wind and host plant odour caused aphids to walk upwind for more than 1 m in 10 min. These findings suggest that olfactory attraction of aphids is involved in host plant selection. |
