pnut pnut Peanut Science 0095-3679 0095-3679 American Peanut Research and Education Society 10.3146/i0095-3679-8-2-5 Articles Aphid Populations and Spread of Peanut Mottle Virus1 H. B. Highland , J. W. Demski , and J. H. Chalkley 2,, 3 Agricultural Research Assistant III, Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, and Agricultural Research Assistant III, respectively, University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations, The Georgia Experiment Station, Experiment, Georgia 30212 Present address of senior author, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, P. O. Drawer Z, Pearsall, Texas 78061

1This research was supported by state and Hatch funds allocated to the Georgia Experiment Station. These studies, in part, were used by the senior author to fulfill an internship requirement for a Master's Degree in Plant Protection and Pest Management.

 7 1981 8 2 99 102 3 6 1981 American Peanut Research and Education Society 1981 American Peanut Research and Education Society Abstract

Higher percentages of peanuts than soybeans or cowpeas become infected when these crops are growing equal distances from a source of peanut mottle virus (PMV). The total number of aphids trapped in these crops are about equal and cannot explain this differential percentage infection. Known vectors of PMV such as Aphis craccivora Koch and Myzus persicae (Sulzer) comprised 31% of the aphid population in peanuts compared to 14% in soybeans and 17% in cowpeas and could be responsible for the higher number of peanut infections. In addition, trapping of live aphids in peanut fields showed that viruliferous Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch) were present. Laboratory studies confirmed R. maidis could transmit PMV from peanut to peanut. This is the first report of R. maidis as a vector of PMV.

 Key Words Arachis hypogaea; , groundnut; , epidemiology; , vectors; , virus spread; , peanut mottle virus