Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Insect Sci. 2014 Jun;21(3):334-41. doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.12114. Epub 2014 Mar 20.
Aphis gossypii Glover shows obvious host specialization, with cucurbit- and cotton-specialized biotypes or host races in many regions. Because its annual natal host crops senesce earlier the cucurbit-specialized biotype may suffer food deficiency. The method this biotype uses to overcome this challenge is still poorly understood. In order to understand the potential of the cucurbit-specialized biotype aphids in host shift and usage, the performance of this biotype on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), a common but poor quality host plant, was explored in this study. The cucurbit-specialized aphids could establish populations on cotton only when these plants had at least nine leaves, and subsequent populations developed rather slowly. The presence of whitefly populations on cotton improved the success rate of cucurbit-specialized aphids. The cucurbit-specialized aphids were mainly distributed on the older leaves of cotton, with only a few settling on the upper leaves. The cucurbit-specialized aphids reared on cotton for 40, 54 and 61 days still maintained strong preference for their natal host plant, cucumber (Cucumis sativus), rather than cotton, and their net reproductive rates and intrinsic rates of natural increase were dramatically lower when they were transferred onto new six-leaf cotton plants or detached leaves. Therefore, we concluded that the cucurbit-specialized aphids have the potential to utilize mature or whitefly-stressed cotton plants, but that this feeding experience on cotton did not alter their specialization for cucurbits. Some cotton plants could act as a temporary host for the cucurbit-specialized aphids to overcome food deficiency arising from senescing cucurbits.
棉蚜（Aphis gossypii Glover）表现出明显的宿主专化性，在许多地区存在葫芦科和棉花专化型或宿主小种。由于其一年生的初生宿主作物更早衰老，葫芦科专化型可能会遭受食物短缺。这种专化型生物克服这一挑战的方法仍知之甚少。为了了解葫芦科专化型蚜虫在宿主转移和利用方面的潜力，本研究探讨了该专化型在棉花（Gossypium hirsutum）上的表现，棉花是一种常见但质量较差的寄主植物。只有当棉花植株至少有 9 片叶子时，葫芦科专化型蚜虫才能在棉花上建立种群，并且随后种群的发育相当缓慢。棉花上粉虱种群的存在提高了葫芦科专化型蚜虫的成功率。葫芦科专化型蚜虫主要分布在棉花的老叶上，只有少数定居在上部叶片上。在棉花上饲养 40、54 和 61 天的葫芦科专化型蚜虫仍然强烈偏好其初生宿主植物黄瓜（Cucumis sativus），而不是棉花，当它们转移到新的六叶棉花植株或离体叶片上时，其净生殖率和内禀增长率显著降低。因此，我们得出结论，葫芦科专化型蚜虫有可能利用成熟或受粉虱胁迫的棉花植株，但这种在棉花上的取食经验并没有改变它们对葫芦科植物的专化性。一些棉花植株可以作为葫芦科专化型蚜虫的临时宿主，以克服因葫芦科植物衰老而导致的食物短缺。
