Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-r7xzm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T13:06:06.276Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Studies of elemental composition as a biological marker in insects. II. The elemental composition of apterae of Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) and Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from different soils and host-plants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

J. Bowden
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts., AL5 2JQ, UK
P. L. Sherlock
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts., AL5 2JQ, UK
P. G. N. Digby
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts., AL5 2JQ, UK
J. S. Fox
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts., AL5 2JQ, UK
J. A. Rhodes
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts., AL5 2JQ, UK

Abstract

Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry was used to make quantitative determinations of the elemental composition of plasma-ashed apterous individuals of Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) and Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker). R. padi was reared on 24 plant–soil combinations and M. dirhodum on nine plant-soil combinations. Analyses were done for 12 elements: Na, Mg, Al, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn. Principal components analyses of individuals showed no distinction, in either aphid species, between insects reared on any plant–soil combination, whether all elements, elemental sub-sets, soil sub-sets or host-plant sub-sets were considered. When group means (mean for all individuals from a particular plant-soil combination) were used in principal components analyses, five groups of R. padi could be distinguished from the other 19, although neither set could be further separated. Four of the five distinguishable groups were from plants that grew particularly poorly, and the fifth was from plants in a soil in which all host-plants grew less well than in other soils. There were no distinct separations between groups of M. dirhodum, though there were slight indications that soils were distinguishable. In both R. padi and M. dirhodum, elemental differences involved the minor elements, particularly Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn. The uniformity of elemental content in the apterae of both aphid species may be a consequence of genetic uniformity within clones of parthenogenetically reproducing species.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blackman, R. H. (1974). Aphids.—175 pp. London, Ginn.Google Scholar
Blackman, R. L. (1979). Stability and variation in aphid clonal lineages.—Biol. J. Linnean Soc. Lond. 11, 259277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackman, R. L. (1981). Species, sex and parthenogenesis in aphids.—pp. 7585 in Forey, P. L. (Ed.). The evolving biosphere.—311 pp. Cambridge, University Press.Google Scholar
Bowden, J., Digby, P. G. N. & Sherlock, P. L. (1984). Studies of elemental composition as a biological marker in insects. I. The influence of soil type and host-plant on elemental composition of Noctua pronuba (L.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 74, 207225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowden, J., Sherlock, P. L., Rhodes, J. A., Turner, R. H. & Digby, P. G. N. (1983). Elemental analysis of insects.—Rep. Rothamsted exp. Stn 1982 (1), 100101.Google Scholar
Dean, G. J. W. (1973). Bionomics of aphids reared on cereals and some Gramineae.—Ann. appl. Biol. 73, 127135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Digby, P. G. N. & Gower, J. C. (1981). Ordination between and within groups applied to soil classification.—pp. 6375 in Merriam, D. F. (Ed.). Down-to-earth statistics: solutions looking for geological problems.—97 pp. New York, Syracuse Univ. Press (Syracuse University Geology Contribution no. 8).Google Scholar
Levy, R. & Cromroy, H. L. (1973). Concentration of some major and trace elements in forty-one species of adult and immature insects determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. —Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 66, 523526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loxdale, H. D., Tarr, I. J., Weber, C. P., Brookes, C. P., Digby, P. G. N. & Castañera, P. (1985). Electrophoretic study of enzymes from cereal aphid populations. III. Spatial and temporal genetic variation of populations of Sitobion avenae (F.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae).—Bull. ent. Res. 75, 121141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plumb, R. T. (1981). Chemicals in the control of cereal virus diseases.—pp. 135145 in Jenkyn, J. F. & Plumb, R. T. (Eds.). Strategies for the control of cereal diseases.—219 pp. Oxford, Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Suomalainen, E., Saura, A., Lokki, J. & Teeri, T. (1980). Genetic polymorphism and evolution in parthenogenetic animals. Part 9. Absence of variation within parthenogenetic aphid clones.—Theor. & Appl. Genet. 57, 129132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomiuk, J. & Wöhrmann, K. (1983). Enzyme polymorphism and taxonomy of aphid species.—Z. zool. Syst. & Evolutionsforsch. 21, 266274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomiuk, J. & Wöhrmann, K. (1984). Genotype variability in natural populations of Macrosiphum rosae (L.) in Europe.—Biol Zbl. 103, 113122.Google Scholar
Turner, R. J. & Bowden, J. (1983). X-ray microanalysis applied to the study of insect migration with special reference to rice bug.—Scanning Electron Microsc. 1983 (2), 873878.Google Scholar
Wool, D., Bunting, S. W. & Van Emden, H. F. (1978). Electrophoretic study of genetic variation in British Myzus persicae (Sulz.) (Hemiptera, Aphididae).—Biochem. Genet. 16, 9871006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wool, D. & Van Emden, H. F. (1981). A possible genetic component in the adaptability of Myzus persicae (Sulz.) clones (Hom., Aphididae) to synthetic diet.—Z. angew. Ent. 91, 225231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, J. P. W. (1983). The population structure of cyclic parthenogens.—pp. 361378 in Oxford, G. S. & Rollinson, D. (Eds.). Protein polymorphism: adaptive and taxonomic significance.–405 pp. London & New York, Academic Press (Proc. Systematics Assoc. Symp. July 1982, special vol. no. 24).Google Scholar