Role of Wild Host Plants in the Feeding, Oviposition, and Dispersal of Scaphytopius acutus (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), a Vector of Peach X-Disease

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Abstract
Studies conducted from May through Nov., 1979 determined that the distribution and abundance of Scaphytopius acutus acutus (Say) (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), a vector of peach ( Prunus persica Batsch) X-disease, in a Connecticut peach orchard were related to the distance from wild host species at the orchard edge and to the relative abundance of wild host plants in the orchard ground cover. Greatest numbers of adult S. acutus for spring and summer generations were captured on yellow sticky traps located among wild host plants at the orchard edge while fewest were caught on traps in peach trees furthest from the edge. Density of nymphs and adults on peach trees and in ground cover in 32 plots along a transect through the orchard increased with the relative abundance of wild host plants in the ground cover and decreased with distance from the orchard edge. Host preference experiments conducted in the laboratory revealed that both generations of S. acutus were most highly attracted to red clover, Trifolium pratense L. (Leguminosae), for feeding and oviposition. However, this plant comprised less than 1% of the orchard ground cover. Peach was preferred as a food host by both generations over 8 wild host species, which comprised 94% of the ground cover. Oviposition preference experiments indicated that peach was among the least preferred hosts for both generations while several rosaceous species, in particular strawberry, Fragaria virginiana Duchesne and blackberry, Rubus allegheniensis Porter, comprising 65% of the ground cover, were most highly preferred for oviposition. The differential utilization of peach and wild rosaceous hosts by S. acutus for feeding and oviposition would encourage frequent movement of adults between peach and the ground cover.