Incidence of the aphid Acyrthosiphon gossypii Mordvilko on legumes and on cotton (Homoptera: Aphididae).

Abstract

No morphological differences could be found between cotton infesting specimens of Acyrthosiphon gossypii Mordvilko from Central Asia and aphids on Vicia faba and Pisum sativum in the Northern Province of the Sudan. The latter are designated in literature Acyrthosiphon sesbaniae Kanakaraj David and are known to transmit viruses of Leguminosae. According to Russian publications A. gossypii represents a serious cotton pest in Central Asia, there settling Fabaceae too and hibernating by typical holocycle on perennial Fabaceae especially on the desert plant Alhagi camelorum. In the Sudan the aphid was found on Pisum sativum and in large colonies on Vicia faba, but the present author could not find it on Medicago sativa. In central Sudan it was collected from the melvaceous plant Hibiscus esculentus thus showing that like in Central Asia Malvaceae may be settled in Africa too. Likely by sequence of biological race differentiation the aphid owns its outstanding economic importance in Central Asia as a cotton pest, whereas in the Near East and farther westward the occurrence on legumes requires attention. When being found on Fabaceae the aphid may be mistaken for the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). Therefore some simply visible distinguishing characters for recognition in the field are given.