The Canadian Entomologist (2013) 145, 283-291

Robert J. Lamb, Patricia A. MacKay and Andrei Alyokhin (2013)
Seasonal dynamics of three coexisting aphid species: implications for estimating population variability
The Canadian Entomologist 145 (3), 283-291
Abstract: Seasonal patterns of abundance and population variability were determined for Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), Myzus persicae (Sulzer), and Aphis nasturtii (Kaltenbach) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in potato plots from weekly samples for 28 years. All species showed a single annual peak, but arrived and reached peak abundance at different times. Population variability (PV, a proportion between 0 and 1) for the week of peak abundance was close to that of other sample weeks and mean seasonal abundance. Based on mid-season abundance, PV of 0.76 for M. persicae differed significantly from 0.80 for A. nasturtii, as well as from 0.59 for M. euphorbiae. A weekly time scale for abundance, initiated at an early stage of plant growth, produced slightly different estimates of PV early and late in the season than a scale centred on peak abundance for each species. PV at the time of invasion differed from estimates for the rest of the summer. The annual abundance used to estimate PV was best determined in the context of aphid life history. Nevertheless, PV provided a robust and precise metric for comparing population variability among the three species, regardless of their seasonal patterns of abundance.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Andrei V. Alyokhin

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Myzus persicae	Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
	Macrosiphum euphorbiae	Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
	Aphis nasturtii	Potato (Solanum tuberosum)