Monitoring of aphid flight activities in seed potato crops in Serbia

Aphid flight activities in seed potato fields have been studied by the yellow water traps. It is a good method for monitoring aphids as vectors of viruses, but this study also showed it is a suitable method for insect-diversity research. During the four-year studies, over 11.500 specimens were collected and a total of 107 different taxa of aphids were identified. The most abundant species were polyphagous species, such as: Acyrthosiphon pisum (Haris), Aphis fabae Scopoli, Aphis gossypii Glover and Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach). The results of the studies show that diversity of aphids in different regions of Serbia is similar regardless of the altitude and the diversity of terrain. At most sites it ranged from 2 to 3. The highest value was recorded in Begec, locality in northern part of Serbia, in year 2008, and it was 2.92. The maximum values of the Shannon-Weaver diversity index at all sites were recorded in the first weeks of the monitoring of aphid flight activities. Morisita-Horn similarity index shows no significant differences between sites regardless of altitudes. The sites are grouped by year, not by similarity of relief. In spite of these results, the Chi-square analysis showed highly significant difference in vector frequencies among seasons and sites with more pronounced differences for PVY. As a consequence of differences in vector frequencies, the vector pressure index in some regions was different also. The number of vectors and vector pressure index vary depending on the altitude of localities. At localities at altitudes under 1000 m, they were high. The highest index was at Kotraza, locality in central part of Serbia, in 2007, when PVY index exceeded the value of 180, while for PLRV it was 60. At high altitudes on mountain Golija, above 1100 m, the number of aphids was low, as well as the vector pressure index which indicates that these regions are suitable for producing virus-free seed potato

New invasive species of aphids (hemiptera, aphididae) in Serbia and Montenegro

Three new invasive species of aphids have been found in Serbia: Chaitophorus populifolli Essig, Myzocallis walshii (Monell) and Trichosiphonaphis polygonifoliae (Shinji) and two have been found in Montenegro: Aphis illinoisensis Shimer and Tinocallis kahawaluokalani (Kirkaldy). A. illinoisensis is a pest of the grapevine, T. polygonifoliae, feeds on a decorative shrub (Lonicera) and the other three feed on trees (Populus, Quercus and Lagerostroemia). Three of the species are American aphids and two are of Asian origin. Their morphology, illustrated by original drawings and data on the biology and distribution are given

Several new and one invasive aphid species (Aphididae, Hemiptera) caught by yellow water traps in Serbia

Eight aphid species were determined as new records for Serbia as a result of the evaluation of the specimens caught by yellow water traps used for monitoring vector activities in seed potato crops during the 4 years 2007-2010. The invasive aphid species Macrosiphum albifrons Essig 1911; and the new species Acyrthosiphon cyparissiae (Koch 1855), Ctenocallis setosus (Kaltenbach 1846), Myzodium modestum (Hottes 1926), Myzocallis castanicola Baker 1917, Myzocallis occidentalis Remaudie et Nieto Nafria 1974, Tinocallis platani (Kaltenbach 1843) and Wahlgreniella ossiannilssoni Hille Ris Lambers 1949. M. modestum is very difficult to detect, as it lives hidden in moss. All species are presented with characteristic morphological information of alatae and line drawings