Aphid Alert is a regional potato virus vector surveillance program of Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota since 1998. The objectives are three-fold: first to provide seed potato industry with real time information on the seasonal flight activity of vectors of potato viruses, second, to characterize the annual species composition and relative abundance of aphid vectors, and third to identify key components of the regional potato virus-vector pathosystem. The core of the Aphid Alert program is an aphid trapping network utilizing suction and green pan traps. Traps are serviced weekly and results are reported to approximately 900 interested parties across all levels of the potato industry by direct mailing, or e-mailing of the weekly Aphid Alert Newsletter. Information is also available at URL: http://ipmworld.umn.edu/alert.htm. A subscriber survey in 1999 showed that 78% of seed potato growers used information provided in the Newsletter as an aid in making management decisions. Vector abundance have differed greatly from one year to the next with cumulative mean capture of potato virus Y (PVY) vector species per trap of 601.5, 173.8, 230.7, and 102.4 in 1998-2001, respectively. Among vectors of PVY, bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) has been identified as key component of the regional PVY pathosystem. Flight activity of green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), the most important vector of potato leafroll virus also showed considerable variation among years: cumulative mean captures per trap per year for this species were 11.7, 16.8, 3.8, and 0.7 in 1998-2001, respectively.
Species 1: Homoptera Aphididae Myzus persicae (green peach aphid, peach-potato aphid)
Species 2: Homoptera Aphididae Rhopalosiphum padi (bird cherry-oat aphid)
Keywords: aphids, potato
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