Abstract
The superficial probing behavior of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), was electronically monitored and studied to determine its relationship to the transmission of a stylet-borne virus (bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV)). Voltage fluctuations which accompanied salivation were amplified and recorded on stripcharts, and the charts were examined to determine if a specific waveform could be correlated with either the acquisition or inoculation of BYMV by the aphids. A distinctive waveform was found to be associated with the acquisition of BYMV in 91.8% of the successful transmissions. A hypothesis is presented to explain how aphids acquire virus during superficial probes into infected plants. No significant correlations could be found between any waveform and the inoculation of BYMV.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: