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The unique color pattern polymorphism and the foamy nymphal case of the meadow spittlebug Philaenus spumarius have attracted the attention of scientists for centuries. Nevertheless, since this species has never been considered a major threat to agriculture, biological, ecological and ethological data are missing and rather scattered. To date this knowledge has become of paramount importance, in view of the discovery of P. spumarius main role in the transmission of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa in Italy, and possibly in other European countries. The aim of this review is to provide a state of the art about this species, with particular focus on those elements that could help developing environmental friendly and sustainable control programs to prevent transmission of X. fastidiosa . Moreover, recent findings on the role of the meadow spittlebug as vector of the fastidious bacterium within the first reported European bacterium outbreak in Apulia (South Italy) will be discussed.

Drought affects crops directly, and indirectly by affecting the activity of insect pests and the transmitted pathogens. Here, we established an experiment with well-watered or water-stressed melon plants, later single infected with either cucumber mosaic virus (CMV: non-persistent), or cucurbit aphid-borne yellow virus (CABYV: persistent), or both CMV and CABYV, and mock-inoculated control. We tested whether i) the relation between CMV and CABYV is additive, and ii) the relationship between water stress and virus infection is antagonistic, i.e., water stress primes plants for enhanced tolerance to virus infection. Water stress increased leaf greenness and temperature, and reduced leaf water potential, shoot biomass, stem dimensions, rate of flowering, CABYV symptom severity, and marketable fruit yield. Virus infection reduced leaf water potential transiently in single infected plants and persistently until harvest in double-infected plants. Double-virus infection caused the largest and synergistic reduction of marketable fruit yield. The relationship between water regime and virus treatment was additive in 12 out of 15 traits at harvest, with interactions for leaf water content, leaf:stem ratio, and fruit set. We conclude that both virus-virus relations in double infection and virus-drought relations cannot be generalized because they vary with virus, trait, and plant ontogeny.

Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso) is bacterium transmitted by psyllids to Solanaceae and Apiaceae plants. So far, Lso is found in Europe affecting Apiaceae. In the Mediterranean region, Bactericera trigonica is the only known vector of Lso, but the leek-onion psyllid Bactericera tremblayi is another widespread psyllid and potential vector of Lso. Commonly, carrot, leek and potato are cultivated in the same zones and it is uncertain if these psyllid species are able to transmit Lso to potato plants. Here, we assessed the transmission of Lso by B. trigonica and B. tremblayi to potato plants. B. trigonica showed preference to ingest from the phloem, settle and oviposit on carrot and celery but not on potato. This was correlated with high Lso transmission rates to both carrot (80%) and celery (70%) but very low to potato (≤3%). B. tremblayi preferred leek over carrot and potato, the latter being the less preferred host. B. tremblayi readily ingested from the phloem of infected carrots but failed to transmit Lso from carrot to carrot. Our study shows that the risk of Lso transmission from Apiaceae to potato by B. trigonica is very low, and that B. tremblayi is not a likely vector of Lso.

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work has been financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant/Award Number: AGL2017-89604-R and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreements no. 635646 POnTE (Pest Organisms Threatening Europe), and no. 727987 XF-ACTORS (Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research Strategy). The first author of this study was funded by the fellowship “Ayudas destinadas a la atracción de talento investigador de la Comunidad de Madrid”. Daniele Cornara participation in this work was supported by a research grant in the frame of European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 835732 XYL-SPIT.

A recent electrical penetration graph (EPG) study identified a unique intracellular puncture that is associated with inoculation of the semipersistently transmitted, phloem-limited Beet yellows virus (BYV, Closterovirus ) by the aphid Myzus persicae . This new aphid EPG pattern (named phloem-pd) always occurs shortly before phloem sieve element phase (PSEP) and has a similar voltage drop as PSEP, both of which are less than the voltage drop of standard-pds. Structure of pd subphase II-2 differs between phloem-pds and standard-pds. The objective of this study was to determine the type of phloem cell penetrated during phloem-pds. Stylets of M. persicae feeding on sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris ) were fixed in situ by cryofixation during phloem-pds, standard-pds and PSEP waveform E1. The cell penetrated by the stylet tips was then identified by confocal laser-scanning microscopy and micro-computed tomography. Sieve elements (SEs) or companion cells (CCs) were penetrated during phloem-pds, whereas cells other than SEs or CCs (mesophyll, bundle sheath cells and possibly phloem parenchyma) were penetrated during standard-pds. SEs were penetrated during waveform E1. The implications of these findings for inoculation of other phloem-limited viruses that currently are thought to be inoculated primarily during waveform E1 are discussed.

‘ Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso)’ is a pathogen of Solanaceae but also causes serious physiological disorders in carrots and celery (Apiaceae). In carrots, this pathogen is transmitted by the psyllids Bactericera trigonica and Trioza apicalis . How vector sex influences Lso transmission has not been yet elucidated. Here we report the probing behaviours of male and female B. trigonica and their impact on Lso titre transmitted, percentage of transmission, and symptoms produced on carrots when Lso is transmitted by males or females of B. trigonica . Vector sex affected the inoculation of Lso; our results suggest that females might inoculate higher Lso titres than males. However, the percentage of transmission was not affected by vector sex at a density of one or eight psyllids per plant. The number of yellow leaves and root weight were not different when Lso was transmitted by males or females at either of the psyllid densities tested, except for groups of females whose Lso transmission resulted in a higher number of yellow leaves than did Lso transmitted by groups of males. Electrical penetration graphs (EPG) showed that the proportion of individuals who reached phloem tissues was similar for males and females. However, EPGs also showed that females probed more times, ingested longer from phloem sieve elements and reached phloem tissues more frequently than did males during an 8-h inoculation access period (IAP). Our study shows that differences in probing behaviours between males and females of B. trigonica could modulate how Lso is inoculated by psyllids. These results highlight the importance of taking sex into consideration in psyllid studies of probing behaviour and bacterial transmission.

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), is a major pest of citrus worldwide due to its ability to transmit the bacteria associated with huanglongbing. Vision, behavior, and performance of insect pests can be manipulated by using ultraviolet (UV)-blocking materials. Thus, the aim of our study was to evaluate how UV-blocking plastic films may affect the take-off and host plant finding ability of D. citri. To assess the effect of a UV-deficient environment on take-off, adult psyllids were released from a vial inside a screenhouse covered by a UV-blocking or standard (control) film and the number of insects remaining on each vial under each treatment was counted at different time intervals. Moreover, to assess the ability of D. citri to find citrus plants under a UV-deficient environment, two independent no-choice host plant finding assays with different plant arrangements were conducted. In each treatment, the number of psyllids per plant at different time intervals was counted. Both D. citri take-off and host plant finding ability was clearly disrupted under a UV-deficient environment. The number of psyllids remaining in the vials was significantly higher under UV-blocking than standard film in all periods recorded. Furthermore, psyllids were present in significantly higher number on citrus plants under standard film than under UV-blocking film in all of the periods assessed and experiments conducted. Our results showed that UV-blocking materials could become a valuable strategy for integrated management of D. citri and huanglongbing in citrus grown in enclosed environments.

Plant viruses and aphids can interact via contest competition for plant resources and induce changes in plant physiology, which can have effects on a third trophic level. The aim of this study was to determine how the interactions between a circulative plant virus and its aphid vector may affect the performance of an endoparasitoid and how parasitism may affect the efficiency of virus transmission by its aphid vector. The timing when parasitized aphids were transferred to virus-infected lettuce leaves was critical for the performance of A. ervi. Higher parasitoid larvae mortality, longer developmental times and lower percentages of mummification were detected on viruliferous/parasitized aphid nymphs when the time lag between parasitism and exposure to the virus was less than 24 h. No significant differences were detected in virus transmission rate between parasitized and non-parasitized M. euphorbiae aphids.

Integrated Pest Management of insects includes several control tactics, such as the use of photoselective nets, which may reduce the flight activity of insects. Limiting the dispersal of pests such as aphids and whiteflies is important because of their major role as vectors of plant viruses, while a minor impact on natural enemies is desired. In this study, we examined for the first time the dispersal ability of three vector species, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), in cages covered with photoselective nets. Contrary to the results obtained with aphids, the ability of the whitefly B. tabaci , to reach the target plant was reduced by photoselective nets. In a second set of experiments, the impact of UV-absorbing nets on the visual cues of two important predator species, Orius laevigatus (Fieber) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae) , was evaluated. The anthocorid was caught in higher numbers in traps placed under regular nets, whereas the mites preferably chose environments in which the UV radiation was attenuated. We have observed a wide range of effects that impedes generalization, although photoselective nets have a positive effect on pest management of whiteflies and aphids under protected environments.

Knowledge on colonization modes and interplant movement of Nasonovia ribisnigri can contribute to the development of optimal control of this pest. The aim of this study was to determine the spatio-temporal distribution and the mode of spread between adult morphs of Nasonovia ribisnigri, comparing spring and autumn lettuce protected crops. The spatial and temporal pattern was analyzed using the spatial analysis by distance indices (SADIE) methodology and other related displacement indices. The population size of N. ribisnigri was greater in the autumn than in the spring growing seasons due to milder temperatures. The percentage of plants colonized by aphids was higher in spring than in autumn, showing the great dispersal potential of this aphid species independent of their population size. Differential propensity for initial displacement from the central plant was observed between adult morphs in spring, resulting in a greater ability of apterous than alate aphids to spread far away from the source plant. In autumn, both adult morphs showed an initial reduced displacement; however, the number of plants infested (≈20%) with at least one aphid at this initial time (seven days) was similar for both adult morphs and both growing seasons. Analysis of the spatial pattern of both adult morphs revealed a predominantly random distribution for both spring and autumn trials. This pattern was achieved by a prevalent random movement over the area (γ≈0.5). These results highlight the ability of the apterous N. ribisnigri to spread within greenhouse lettuce crops early in the spring, suggesting that detection of the pest by deep visual inspection is required after lettuce emergence.