Population fluctuation and faunal indices of aphids (Hemiptera, Aphididae) in peach orchards in Araucária, PR

Abstract

Aphids are sap-sucking insects that mainly attack shoots and young leaves of peach trees and many other plant species; however, knowledge of the Brazilian aphid fauna is scant. The objective of this study was to identify aphid species collected in peach orchards (Prunus persica Batsch) and to determine their faunal indices for occurrence and dominance. The experiment was conducted from July 2005 to September 2006 in six Chimarrita peach orchards in the municipality of Araucária, PR, Brazil. The survey of aphid species was conducted by visual samplings on peach trees and using Möericke-type yellow traps containing water. A faunal analysis was made using aphid occurrence and dominance indices. Brachycaudus persicae (Passerini, 1860) was the only aphid species that was found colonizing peach in Araucária/PR. Although most aphids collected were classified as rare, some can be considered potential peach colonizers, such as Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776) which was given the status of common or intermediate in some of the orchards studied. The population fluctuation of aphids showed a negative correlation with rainfall and positive correlation with temperature and relative humidity.Keywords: Prunus persica, Aphididae, visual sampling, Möericke trap.Flutuação populacional e índices faunísticos de afídeos (Hemiptera, Aphididae) em pomares de pessegueiros em Araucária, PR ResumoOs afídeos são insetos sugadores de seiva que atacam principalmente brotações e folhas novas de pessegueiros e de diversas outras espécies vegetais, porém o conhecimento sobre a afidofauna brasileira é escasso. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar as espécies de afídeos coletadas em pomares de pessegueiros (Prunus persica Batsch) e analisar os índices faunísticos de ocorrência e dominância. O experimento foi realizado de julho de 2005 a setembro de 2006 em seis pomares de pessegueiros da cultivar Chimarrita no município de Araucária, PR. O levantamento das espécies de afídeos foi realizado por meio de amostragens visuais em pessegueiros e armadilhas amarelas de água do tipo Möericke. Brachycaudus persicae (Passerini, 1860) foi a única espécie de afídeo encontrada colonizando pessegueiros em Araucária, PR. Apesar da maioria das espécies de afídeos coletadas serem classificadas como raras, algumas podem ser consideradas colonizadoras potenciais de pessegueiros como Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776) que recebeu o status de comum ou intermediária em alguns dos pomares estudados. A flutuação populacional de afídeos apresentou uma correlação negativa com a precipitação pluviométrica e positiva com a temperatura e a umidade relativa do ar.Palavras-chave: Prunus persica, Aphididae, amostragem visual, armadilha Möericke.

Protective effect and economic impact of insecticide application methods on barley

“…Weather conditions preceding the sampling period probably affected the initial aphid population because, at this period -June and July -more intense rainfalls were observed. This result corroborates the findings of Schuber et al (2009), who reported that aphid population has an inverse correlation with rainfall in Paraná state, Brazil.…”

“…This was shown by Parizoto et al (2013), in an experiment by which virus was transmitted more efficiently by R. padi followed by S. avenae. Considering the total population of aphid pests of winter cereals, the population in 2012 was 7.5 times higher than in 2011 and, possibly, these differences resulted from the ones in weather conditions between years, mainly the amount of precipitation during the season (Figure 1), which was also observed in studies by Schuber et al (2009). In 2011, there was a low aphid population in the early development of barley, occurring a slight increase in population from 63 DAE, covering the booting period, which chronologically corresponds to the end of September and early October.…”

Natural enemies associated to aphids in peach orchards in Araucária, Paraná, Brazil

“…The species trapped with higher frequencies were: Uroleucon ambrosiae (Thomas, 1878), Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758), Aphis spiraecola Patch (1914), Toxoptera citricida Kirkaldy (1907), Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776), Macrosiphum rosae (Linnaeus, 1758) and Aulacorthum solani Kaltenbach (1843). The other species occurred in frequencies below 1% (Schuber et al, 2009). This study also showed that Brachycaudus persicae (Passerini, 1860) is the only aphid species, which colonizes P. persica in Araucária, PR, Brazil and the occurrence of the other species in larger quantities may be related to the higher diversity of families of weeds in the orchards (Schuber et al, 2009).…”

“…The other species occurred in frequencies below 1% (Schuber et al, 2009). This study also showed that Brachycaudus persicae (Passerini, 1860) is the only aphid species, which colonizes P. persica in Araucária, PR, Brazil and the occurrence of the other species in larger quantities may be related to the higher diversity of families of weeds in the orchards (Schuber et al, 2009). There were no statistically significant differences when comparing different sampling methods tested (Figure 1).…”

Impact of tobacco recessive resistance gene va on biological properties of Brazilian Potato virus Y (PVY) isolates

“…Thus, the development stage of tobacco plants in SCW and RGC (young plants), together with a possible heterogeneous pattern (e.g. frequency, abundance and distribution) of aphid flights (Schuber et al. , 2009; Cividanes & dos Santos‐Cividanes, 2010) could have favoured viral infections in these areas.…”