Incidence of Aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) and Associated Potyviruses in Summer Squash in Arkansas

A field study conducted in two Arkansas locations determined that five aphid species, Aphis craccivora Koch, Aphis gossypii Glover, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch) and Myzus persicae (Sulzer), were associated with yellow summer squash, Cucurbita pepo, L. Each aphid species vectors potyviruses of cucurbits. Although aphids were readily trapped with water and sticky flag traps, few aphids were observed on plants, and no vigorous aphid colonies were detected. In south central Arkansas (Benton), no virus-infected plants were observed in early plantings. Watermelon mosaic virus was detected in late squash plantings at Benton and varied from 0 to 23.2% of the total plants. In western Arkansas (Mulberry), papaya ringspot virus rapidly infected summer squash and resulted in complete loss of marketable fruit. The rapid and severe infection was attributed to close proximity of an infected squash planting.