Journal of Economic Entomology (2019) 112, 1774-1779

Abdossamad Zahedi, Jabraeil Razmjou, Hooshang Rafiee-Dastjerdi, Norman C. Leppla, Ali Golizadeh, Mahdi Hassanpour and Asgar Ebadollahi (2019)
Tritrophic interactions of cucumber cultivar, Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae), and its predator Hippodamia variegata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
Journal of Economic Entomology 112 (4), 1774-1779
Abstract: The melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, is a cosmopolitan pest that infests and damages a wide range of crop plants, especially cucurbits. It is a host of the coccinellid predator, Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), that has the potential to suppress the pest on leaves of cucumber plants grown in greenhouses. Melon aphids were reared on either Storm or Khasib cucumber cultivars to determine whether there would be a difference in their development and reproduction. The aphids from each cultivar were fed to H. variegata adults to assess their effects on the life history of the predator. The aphid population reared on Khasib leaves increased faster than the population on Storm leaves; however, the predators fed aphids from Storm leaves had a higher rate of population growth. Thus, the intrinsic rate of increase and net reproductive rate were greater for aphids reared on Khasib leaves but lower for H. variegata fed those aphids compared with aphids reared on the Storm cultivar. Additionally, clean and aphid-infested leaves from both cultivars were analyzed for total flavonoids, phenol, and chlorophyll, and the density of leaf trichomes was measured. The Storm leaves contained higher amounts of flavonoids and phenol, less chlorophyll, and a greater density of trichomes. Regardless of cucurbit cultivar, aphid feeding increased the flavonoids and phenol content and decreased the amount of chlorophyll.
(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): Jabraeil Razmjou, Norman C. Leppla, Ali Golizadeh

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution
environment/habitat manipulation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aphis gossypii	Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
Hippodamia variegata (predator)	Aphis gossypii	Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)