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Airborne concentrations of conidia of Erynia neoaphidis above cereal fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2001

Farhad HEMMATI
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Nematology, IACR-Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK E-mail: [email protected] Department of Agriculture and Food, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AT, UK. Current address: AREEO, Scientific & Research Bureau, PO Box 19835- 111, Tehran, Iran.
Judith K. PELL
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Nematology, IACR-Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK E-mail: [email protected]
H. Alastair McCARTNEY
Affiliation:
Plant Pathology Department, IACR-Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, UK
Michael L. DEADMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture and Food, University of Reading, Reading RG6 2AT, UK. Current address: Department of Agronomy, Horticulture, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 34, Al Khod 123, Sultanate of Oman
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Abstract

The temporal pattern of release and dispersal of inoculum of plant and insect pathogenic fungi play an important role in the spread of disease. Airborne concentrations of primary and secondary conidia of Erynia neoaphidis released from the rose-grain aphid Metopolophium dirhodum were monitored at the edge of two winter wheat crops on IACR-Rothamsted Experimental Farm between May and September in 1996 and 1997. Hourly average temperature and humidity were recorded at each spore trap site and daily totals of rain and sunshine hours and daily average wind speed recorded about 1.6 km from the monitoring sites. No airborne conidia were found in 1996, but large numbers were trapped at the two sites in 1997. They were present from mid-June until early August, reaching peak concentrations on 17–18 July. Concentrations were usually highest during the night and in the early morning (01:00–07:00 h GMT) and were generally low during the day. On the 3 days when significant numbers of conidia were caught in the afternoon, daytime relative humidity was high (about 89%) and day-time temperature low (about 16 °C). Night-time conditions nearly always favoured the production of conidia. This suggests day to day variation in airborne conidium concentrations may be affected more by underlying biological factors than environmental conditions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The British Mycological Society 2001

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