Integrating multiple criteria for the characterization of Psammotettix populations in European cereal fields.

The wheat dwarf disease is among the most damaging diseases in cereals. Its aetiological agent is the Wheat dwarf virus (WDV), which is exclusively transmitted from plant to plant by leafhoppers from the genus Psammotettix (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae). The parameters linked to the WDV/Psammotettix pathosystem are still poorly understood. We studied Psammotettix individuals collected in wheat and barley fields in France and, as a comparison, from grassland at agroecological interface in West Slovenia. Species identity of males and females has been determined using multiple criteria. In the first step, the characterization of the collected individuals included recordings of vibrational signals used in mating behaviour and morphometric analyses. In addition, a 442 nt sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxydase I (COI) gene was obtained for some individuals and compared to COI sequences of the Psammotettix leafhoppers available in public databases. In the cereal fields in France, P sammotettix alienus was the most numerous species; however, it sometimes occurred together with Psammotettix confinis, while in the grasslands in Slovenia, the third syntopic species in Psammotettix community was Psammotettix helvolus. The temporal parameters of the P. alienus male calling song that were measured in this study were very similar to those measured in a previous study. The local biotic and/or abiotic parameters most likely influence the life history of Psammotettix leafhoppers, and the proportion of viruliferous individuals collected in cereal fields was 14.9%, while leafhoppers collected in Slovenia were virus-free. Taken together, results show that more detailed information on population structure of Psammotettix leafhoppers is crucial for providing an insight into the epidemiology of wheat dwarf disease

Analyse de la variabilité spécifique des partenaires virus/vecteur du pathosystème "pieds chétifs du blé"

Bgpi : équipe 6absen

Mating disruption by vibrational signals: state of the field and perspectives

Until a few years ago, the concept of mating disruption had been exclusively associated with the use of pheromones to reduce population density of insect pests. Since the early 2000s, a novel approach has been proposed to the scientific community: vibrational mating disruption (VMD). The novelty is the use of disturbance vibrations to disrupt the mating behavior of insect pests that communicate by means of substrate-borne vibrations. This research falls within the new field of biotremology and it brought the VMD from a theoretical concept to practical open field experimentation: in 2017, VMD was applied in an organic vineyard in Northern Italy to control leafhopper pests’ population density. This achievement gave us the opportunity to report the state of the field for the method, to discuss the ongoing research and to make a comparison between pheromone mating disruption (PMD) and VMD. In this chapter, we review the salient moments that led to the field application of VMD. Then, we discuss the VMD characteristics and we provide a benchmark, using as reference the traditional PMD to discuss similarities and differences. Furthermore, we analyze the advantages and disadvantages of applying VMD to commercial crops. We are convinced that the first vibrational vineyard is a starting point and that biotremology will provide many innovative possibilities for farmers to control pests in the future. We also think that the introduction of electronic devices in the vineyard could be a trailblazer for the diffusion of smart technology in viticulture, thus improving its general management