THE CORRELATION OF APHID NUMBERS WITH THE SPREAD OF LEAF ROLL AND RUGOSE MOSAIC IN POTATO CROPS

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Abstract
An analysis of the results of experiments in different parts of England and Wales from 1941 to 1947 on the spread of potato leaf roll and rugose mosaic showed that leaf roll spread was correlated with the number of alate Myzus persicae (Sulzer) caught on sticky traps throughout the potato‐growing season; there was some correlation with the maximum count of M. persicae per 100 leaves, but this possibly results from the correlation between trapped aphids and the number per 100 leaves. Spread of rugose mosaic (potato virus Y) was correlated to a lesser degree with number of M, persicae, perhaps because other aphid species are often vectors. With both diseases higher correlations were obtained when the infected plants were dispersed among the healthy crop than when they were placed together in a row. It is concluded that it is possible to predict the average health of potato stocks in the following year from average trap data; further work may enable the health of individual stocks to be predicted.