Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA.
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
J Econ Entomol. 2020 Oct 16;113(5):2558-2562. doi: 10.1093/jee/toaa165.
The three-cornered alfalfa hopper, Spissistilus festinus (Say), was shown to transmit Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV), the causative agent for Grapevine red blotch disease, in a greenhouse study on grapes. GRBV is a major concern of wine grape growers due to its economic impact on wine quality. Plants in the family Fabaceae are preferred hosts of S. festinus and are commonly planted as cover crops or present in a vineyard's native vegetation. In late winter, during grapevine dormancy, S. festinus migrate into vineyards to feed and reproduce on these cover crop and weed hosts. Tilling vineyard floor vegetation provides growers an opportunity to disrupt the life cycle of early instars that are relatively immobile, reducing the S. festinus first-generation population. Nymphal presence is difficult to detect. First through third instars were not detected in sweep net samples in a 2-yr weekly sampling study, whereas fourth and fifth instars were first found on the same sample date as emerging adults. A degree-day model was developed and successfully predicted when early S. festinus instars are present in the vineyard to aid in exploiting the time period when S. festinus is most susceptible to cultural control measures.
三叶苜蓿盲蝽，Spissistilus festinus（Say），在温室葡萄研究中被证明可以传播葡萄红斑病毒（GRBV），GRBV 是葡萄酒葡萄种植者的主要关注点，因为它会对葡萄酒质量造成经济影响。豆科植物是 S. festinus 的首选宿主，通常作为覆盖作物种植，或存在于葡萄园的原生植被中。在冬季末期，葡萄休眠期间，S. festinus 会迁移到葡萄园，以这些覆盖作物和杂草宿主为食并繁殖。翻耕葡萄园地表植被为种植者提供了一个机会，可以破坏相对不活跃的早期若虫的生命周期，从而减少第一代 S. festinus 的数量。若虫的存在很难被察觉。在为期 2 年的每周抽样研究中，用捕虫网抽样时未发现第二至第三龄若虫，而第四和第五龄若虫则在与成虫同时出现的同一抽样日期首次被发现。建立了一个积温模型，并成功预测了早期 S. festinus 若虫在葡萄园中的出现时间，以帮助利用 S. festinus 最容易受到文化控制措施影响的时间段。
