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Aphids provide a good model system to understand the ecological speciation concept, since the majority of the species are host-specific, and they spend their entire lifecycle on certain groups of host plants. Aphid species that apparently have wide host plant ranges have often turned out to be complexes of host-specialized biotypes. Here we investigated the various host-associated populations of the two recently diverged species, Aphis gossypii and A. rhamnicola, having multiple primary hosts, to understand the complex evolution with host-associated speciation. Using mitochondrial DNA marker and nine microsatellite loci, we reconstructed the haplotype network, and analyzed the genetic structure and relationships. Approximate Bayesian computation was also used to infer the ancestral primary host and host-associated divergence, which resulted in Rhamnus being the most ancestral host for A. gossypii and A. rhamnicola. As a result, Aphis gossypii and A. rhamnicola do not randomly use their primary and secondary host plants; rather, certain biotypes use only some secondary and specific primary hosts. Some biotypes are possibly in a diverging state through specialization to specific primary hosts. Our results also indicate that a new heteroecious race can commonly be derived from the heteroecious ancestor, showing strong evidence of ecological specialization through a primary host shift in both A. gossypii and A. rhamnicola. Interestingly, A. gossypii and A. rhamnicola shared COI haplotypes with each other, thus there is a possibility of introgression by hybridization between them by cross-sharing same primary hosts. Our results contribute to a new perspective in the study of aphid evolution by identifying complex evolutionary trends in the gossypii sensu lato complex., Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal's policy and declare the following competing interests: TT is a paid employee of BTL Bio-Test Labor GmbH (www.biotestlab.de). There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

The fecundity advantage hypothesis suggests that females with a large body size produce more offspring than smaller females. We tested this hypothesis by exploring the correlations between life-history traits of three aphid species feeding on ten wheat accessions at three levels of analysis with respect to the host plant: overall, inter-accession, and intra-accession. We found that fecundity was significantly correlated with mean relative growth rate (MRGR), weight gain, and development time, and that the faster aphid develops the greater body and fecundity, depending on aphid species, wheat accession, and analyses level. Larger aphids of all three species produced more offspring overall; this held true for Sitobion avenae and Schizaphis graminum at the inter-accession level, and for S. avenae, Rhopalosiphum padi, and S. graminum for three, five, and eight accessions respectively at the intra-accession level. Only one correlation, between intrinsic rates of natural increase (rm) and MRGR, was significant for all aphid species at all three analysis levels. A more accurate statement of the fecundity advantage hypothesis is that cereal aphids with greater MRGR generally maintain higher rm on wheat. Our results also provide a method for exploring relationships between individual life-history traits and population dynamics for insects on host plants.

Life tables of brown and green color morphs of the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) reared on barley under laboratory conditions at 20 ± 1°C, 65% ± 5% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 16 : 8 h (L : D) were compared. The plants were either: (i) infected with the Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV); (ii) not infected with virus but previously infested with aphids; or (iii) healthy barley plants, which were not previously infested with aphids. Generally, both color morphs of S. avenae performed significantly better when fed on BYDV-infected plants than on plants that were virus free but had either not been or had been previously infested with aphids. Furthermore, when fed on BYDV-infected plants, green S. avenae developed significantly faster and had a significantly shorter reproductive period than the brown color morph. There were no significant differences in this respect between the two color morphs of S. avenae when they were reared on virus-free plants that either had been or not been previously infested with aphids. These results indicate that barley infected with BYDV is a more favorable host plant than uninfected barley for both the color morphs of S. avenae tested, particularly the green color morph., (© 2013 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)

The effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on the biology of green and brown morphs of Sitobion avenae (F.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) were tested under laboratory conditions. The two S. avenae morphs were exposed directly to different doses (0, 216, 432, and 864 kJ/m(2)) of artificial UV-B. Under low doses of UV-B (216 kJ/m(2)), the nymphal development period was significantly shorter, whereas mean relative growth, total fecundity, and gross reproductive rate were significantly higher for both aphid morphs compared with those morphs under control treatments (0 kJ/m(2)). Under high doses of UV-B (432 kJ/m(2) and/or 864 kJ/m(2)), the nymphal development period was significantly longer, whereas the reproductive period, postreproductive period, difference in weight, mean relative growth, and life table parameters were significantly reduced for both aphid morphs. Moreover, the nymphal development period was significantly shorter and the differences in weight, mean relative growth, total fecundity, and life table parameters were significantly higher for the brown morph under high doses of UV-B compared with the green morph. The results showed that enhanced UV-B affects the performance of the green and brown S. avenae morphs from positively to negatively. The brown morph exhibited stronger adaptability than the green morph at high doses of UV-B.

Virus-infected host plants can have positive, neutral or negative effects on vector aphids. Even though the proportion of non-vector aphids associated with a plant far exceeds that of vector species, little is known about the effect of virus-infected plants on non-vector aphids. In the present study, the English grain aphid Sitobion avenae (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a non-vector of Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) and Cereal yellow dwarf virus-RPV (CYDV-RPV), was monitored on, virus-infected, virus-free and leafhopper/aphid-infested, and virus- and insect-free (control) barley, Hordeum vulgare L. (Poales: Poaceae), plants. Electrical penetration graph recordings were performed. Compared with the control plants, S. avenae on infected plants exhibited reduced non-probing and pathway phase, and increased phloem sap ingestion phase, and more aphids reached sustained phloem ingestion. However, the electrical penetration graph parameters described above showed no significant differences in aphid feeding behavior on virus-free and vector pre-infested plants and the control barley plants during S. avenae feeding. The results suggest that WDV/CYDV-RPV-infected host plants positively affected the feeding behavior of the non-vector aphid S. avenae. Based on these results, the reasons and trends among the virus-infected host plants' effects on the feeding behavior of non-vector aphids are discussed.

1. Maternal and offspring diet effects on life-history traits of the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi were tested on three wheat varieties. Using nine reciprocal combinations of wheat varieties, the effects of previous experience (maternal diet effect) on the aphid's response to resistant and susceptible varieties (offspring diet effect) were tested. Batis was susceptible, and Xiaoyan22 and Ww2730 were both resistant, but with different mechanisms. 2. Aphids produced the most alatae in the treatments with the most resistant maternal diet variety Xiaoyan22. The fecundity ( F) and intrinsic rate of increase ( rm) of these alatae were at their greatest in the most resistant offspring diet variety, but these traits were not influenced in the apterae. 3. There were significant interactions in the alatae production and apterae life-history traits, such as rm, development time, weight gain, and mean relative growth rate, between the maternal and offspring diet varieties. The interactions in apterae responses between varieties, some of which were reciprocal, indicated phenotypic plasticity in these parthenogenetic aphids. 4. Rhopalosiphum padi produced more alatae on the most resistant variety; the alatae would disperse and were more fecund. The growth responses of the apterae showed phenotypic plasticity to the different combinations of maternal and offspring diet varieties. The phenotypic plasticity would allow R. padi to better utilise the variable environments represented by the small wheat plots of different varieties in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was first to determine whether the chemical defence of lupin is more effective against the generalist aphids that occur on lupins than the host specific, M. albifrons. Secondly, to determine whether the host specific aphid shows an increase in performance over time if it is reared on sweet lupin and whether the process is reversed when transferred back to a bitter variety of lupin. Of the lupin cultivars tested only those with strongly reduced alkaloid contents were acceptable as host plants by the generalist species of aphid tested, and only M. albifrons reproduced on the "bitter" cultivars. In order to define the performance of M. albifrons, developmental time, mean relative growth rate and number of embryos were recorded for two strains reared for several generations on a bitter cv. of lupin and then transferred for several generations to sweet lupin and then reared again on a bitter cv. of lupin. The performance of M. albifrons was not better on lupins rich in alkaloids. However, the results also indicate that this aphid can adapt and thrive on a previously resistant cultivar within five generations even when reproducing parthenogenetically and that this change is reversible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aphid-AutoEPG is a new software program, developed to acquire and automatically analyse electrical penetration graph (EPG) signals used for monitoring plant penetration by aphids. Characteristically EPG signals include waveforms that allow one to study the effects of plants on the acquisition and transmission of viruses, plant protection substances on pests and identify the location of resistance in plants to aphids. The success of electrical monitoring arises from the fact that different species of aphids generate similar EPG patterns. But the visual analysis of EPG waveforms in recorded signals is very time consuming, which has greatly hampered the wider application of EPG technology. To overcome this Aphid-AutoEPG software was developed, which has been extensively tested using data files for several different species of aphids, M. persicae, A. frangulae gossypii, M. albifrons, S. avenae, B. brassicae and N. ribis-nigri. The results have also been compared with visual analyses using Stylet+ software. When used in combination with the user friendly correction options Aphid-AutoEPG is not only easy to use but can also result in a considerable saving in terms of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on the biology of green and brown morphs of Sitobion avenae (F.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) were tested under laboratory conditions. The two S. avenae morphs were exposed directly to different doses (0, 216 432, and 864 kJ/m² of artificial UV-B. Under low doses of UV-B (216 kJ/m²), the nymphal development period was significantly shorter, whereas mean relative growth, total fecundity, and gross reproductive rate were significantly higher for both aphid morphs compared with those morphs under control treatments (0 kJ/m²). Under high doses of UV-B (432 kJ/m² and/or 864 kJ/m²), the nymphal development period was significantly longer, whereas the reproductive period, postreproductive period, difference in weight, mean relative growth, and life table parameters were significantly reduced for both aphid morphs. Moreover, the nymphal development period was significantly shorter and the differences in weight, mean relative growth, total fecundity, and life table parameters were significantly higher for the brown morph under high doses of UV-B compared with the green morph. The results showed that enhanced UV-B affects the performance of the green and brown S. avenae morphs from positively to negatively. The brown morph exhibited stronger adaptability than the green morph at high doses of UV-B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the results of a study that investigated the feeding behavior of the English grain aphid Sitobion avenae, a non-vector of Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) and Cereal yellow dwarf virus-RPV (CYDV-RPV), on virus-infected host plants, Hordeum vulgare. The Sitobion avenae on infected plants showed reduced non-probing and pathway phase. No differences in aphid feeding behavior on virus-free and vector pre-infested plants were observed.