Life History of the Green Peach Aphid on Peach and Its Relation tothe Aphid Problem on Potatoes in Washington

Abstract

The leafroll disease of potatoes has caused serious loss of yields in central Wash. where peach orchards and potato fields occur in close proximity. Eggs of Myzus persicae are laid on peach twigs Oct. to mid-Dec; hatching starts from mid-Feb. to mid-March. 15 generations of the aphid were reared from March 4 to Sept. 2, 1949, in small celluloid cages placed on peach twigs in a commercial orchard. The avg. length of life of the stem mothers was 49.5 days and they produced an avg. of 73.1 young each. The avg. longevity of the agamic generations was 37.6 days for those born in April to 15.2 days for those born in Aug. The max. number of aphid produced per female was 132 in the spring, 55 in June, and 10 in August. Starting with the 2d agamic generation 6-64% of the aphids of the several generations were winged. Only one aphid was permitted to develop in a cage and it was concluded that the production of winged aphids was not caused by crowding.