Species composition, complex structure, and population dynamics of aphids in a grain-grass-row crop rotation in Northwestern Russia

In the Northwestern region of Russia, and in the Leningrad Region in particular, mass outbreaks of aphids occasionally occur, which have a significant impact on crop formation. The aim of the study was to investigate the species composition, complex structure, and population dynamics of aphids in the fields of a grain-grass-row crop rotation, which is widely practiced in this territory. The aphid complex was studied during 2021–2022 using yellow water traps placed in all fields of the crop rotation. Aphid counts were carried out at 7–8 day intervals, resulting in a total of 10 and 15 counts in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The aphid complex of the graingrass-row crop rotation was characterized by high species diversity (30 species) but low abundance (1.9 individuals/trap), which varied depending on the agrocoenosis characteristics within a range of 1.3–2.8 individuals/trap, on average, over the crop growing season. The agrocoenoses differed considerably in the composition and structure of their aphid complexes, except for those whose cultivated plants belonged to the same botanical family and had identical seasonal development patterns (winter rye, perennial grasses). The numerical majority consisted of species whose feeding specialization is associated with cultivated plants (85.3%), with the remainder accounted for by weed species (12.6%) and woody and shrub vegetation (2.1%). The maximum aphid abundance in the crop rotation was recorded in the second decade of June, which coincided with the mass outbreak of the bird cherry-oat aphid in spring oat crops, and to a lesser extent in winter rye and perennial grass stands.

1. Brewer M.J., Peairs F.B., Elliott N.C. Invasive Cereal Aphids of North America: Ecology and Pest Management. Annual Review of Entomology. 2019;64(1):73-93. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-011118-111838

2. Valenzuela I., Hoffmann A. Effects of aphid feeding and associated virus injury on grain crops in Australia. Austral entomology. 2015;54(3):292-305. https://doi.org/10.1111/aen.12122

3. Yahya M., Saeed N.A., Nadeem S., Hamed M. et al. Role of Wheat Varieties and Insecticide Applications against Aphids for Better Wheat Crop Harvest. Pakistan Journal Zoology. 2017;49(6):2217-2225. https://doi.org/10.17582/journal.pjz/2017.49.6.2217.2225

4. Amirkulov O.S. Effect of the sucking pest aphid on the yield and grain quality of winter wheat. Aktualnye problemy sovremennoy nauki. 2018;(5(102)):237-241. (In Russ.)

5. Gerieva F.T., Bolieva Z.A., Basiev S.S. Aphids – vectors of viral infection of seed potatoes in the North Caucasus. Plant Protection and Quarantine. 2014;(12):18-19. (In Russ.)

6. Kakareka N.N., Volkov Yu.G., Sapotskyi M.V., Tolkach V.F. et al. Viruses of cereal crops and their vectors in the south of the Russian Far East (review). Agricultural Biology. 2020;(3(55)):439-450. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15389/agrobiology.2020.3.439rus

7. Sharapova Yu.A. Dynamics of grain aphids in winter soft wheat crops in the Samara Region forest-steppe. Bulletin Samara State Agricultural Academy. 2021;(4):31-36. (In Russ.)

8. Berim M.N. Features of the vital activity of cereal aphids in the North-West of Russia. The Agrarian Scientific Journal. 2023;(10):26-32. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28983/asj.y2023i10pp26-32

9. Nikolaeva Z.V., Timofeeva N.Yu. Aphids are pests of cereals in the Pskov Region. Naukosfera. 2021;(1-1):123-128. (In Russ.)

10. Illarionov A.I., Razumeiko I.N. Phytophages of peas and techniques for limiting their harmfulness. Vestnik of Voronezh State Agrarian University. 2018;(3(58)):20-31. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17238/issn2071-2243.2018.3.20

11. Kaplin V.G., Volodina I.A., Kuryanovich A.A., Vasin V.G. Dynamics of the composition and number of insects on the above-ground organs of alfalfa in the forest-steppe of the Samara Region. Entomologicheskoe obozrenie. 2020;99(3)540-575. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31857/S0367144520030041

12. Gorbatko K.A., Demkin V.I. Ecological means of brevicoryne brassicae control in rape plantings. Plant Protection and Quarantine. 2009;(11):31-32. (In Russ.)

13. Marmulyova E.Yu., Toropova E.Yu. Entomological complex of spring rapeseed in the forest-steppe of Western Siberia. Vestnik NGAU (Novosibirsk State Agrarian University. 2013;(2(27)):24-30. (In Russ.)

14. Gerr E.S., Stognienko O.I Dynamics of the number of sucking insects – carriers of virus and phytoplasm diseases in sugar beet crops. Sakharnaya svekla. 2021;(10):24-27. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25802/SB.2021.58.79.005

15. Shelabina T.A. The study of species composition of aphids in the planting of original potatoes in the conditions of the Leningrad Region. Trudy Kubanskogo gosudarstvennogo agrarnogo universiteta. 2019;(81):240-245. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21515/1999-1703-81-240-245

16. Sukhoruchenko G.I., Ivanova G.P., Volgarev S.A., Berim M.N. Species composition of aphids (Hemiptera, Aphididae) on plantings of seedpotatoes in the North-West region of Russia. Entomologicheskoe obozrenie. 2019;98(4):724-740. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.1134/S0367144519040051

17. Ovsyannikova E.I., Berim M.N. Species composition and aphid population seasonal dynamics in vegetable agrocenoses of of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The Agrarian Scientific Journal. 2023;(8):41-48. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28983/asj.y2023i8pp41-48

18. Shpanev A.M. Field ecosystems of the agrolandscape of the Kamennaya Steppe and their phytosanitary improvement. St. Petersburg, Russia: All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, 2012:304. (In Russ.)

19. Shaposhnikov G.Kh. Suborder Aphidinea – aphids. Identification of insects of the European part of the USSR. Moscow, USSR,1964;1:489-616. (In Russ.)

20. Remaudiee G., Seco Fernandez M.V. Claves de pulgones alados de la region Mediterranea. Vol. 2. Spain: Universidad de Leon, 1990:205. (In Span., in French)

21. Blackman R.L., Eastop V.F. Aphids on the World’s Herbaceous Plants and Shrubs. Vol. 1: Host lists and keys. London: Natural History Museum, 2006:1438.

22. Sorensen T.A Method of establishing groups of equal amplitude in plant sociology based on similarity of species content and its application to analysis of the vegetation on Danish commons. Biologiske skrifter. 1948;5:1-34.

23. Shorygin A.A. Nutrition, selective ability and feeding relationships of some Goobiidae of the Caspian Sea. Zoologicheskiy zhurnal. 1939;1(18):27-51. (In Russ.)