Examining the Competitive Advantage of Diuraphis noxia (Hemiptera: Aphididae) Biotype 2 Over Biotype 1

The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov) is a serious pest of small grains, such as wheat and barley. High population growth rates and a broad gramineae host range have allowed this aphid to successfully establish and become pestiferous across much of North America since its invasion in...

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Published inJournal of economic entomology Vol. 107; no. 4; pp. 1471 - 1475
Main Authors Merrill, Scott C., Randolph, Terri L., Peairs, Frank B., Michels, G. J., Walker, C. B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Entomological Society of America 01.08.2014
Oxford University Press
Subjects
Animals
Aphididae
Aphids - physiology
Arid zones
Barley
binomial distribution
Biotypes
Competition
Competitive advantage
Competitive Behavior
Cultivars
Diuraphis noxia
FIELD AND FORAGE CROPS
Growth rate
Host range
Overwintering
Pest resistance
Population growth
Russian wheat aphid
temperature
Triticum
Wheat
Winter wheat
United States > US
Texas
Russian wheat aphid
temperature
overwintering
binomial distribution
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Summary:The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov) is a serious pest of small grains, such as wheat and barley. High population growth rates and a broad gramineae host range have allowed this aphid to successfully establish and become pestiferous across much of North America since its invasion in the mid-1980s. Resistant wheat cultivars were developed and provided control of D. noxia until 2003, when a new biotype (designated RWA2, as contrasted with the original biotype’s designation, RWA1) emerged and rapidly spread through dryland winter wheat-growing regions. RWA2 displaced RWA1 more quickly than expected, based on RWA2’s advantage in RWA1-resistant wheat cultivars. Previous research suggested that RWA2 may out-compete RWA1 in cooler temperatures. Thus, we sought to determine if RWA2 had a competitive advantage over RWA1 during the overwintering period. We placed a known distribution of RWA1 and RWA2 aphids in the field for the winter at three sites across a latitudinal gradient (from northern Colorado to Texas) to test for a competitive advantage between these biotypes. We found overwhelming support for an overwintering competitive advantage by RWA2 over RWA1, with evidence suggesting a >10-fold advantage even at our Texas site (i.e., the site with the mildest winter). This substantial overwintering advantage helps explain the quick dispersion and displacement of RWA1 by RWA2.
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ISSN:0022-0493
1938-291X
0022-0493
DOI:10.1603/EC13557