Reduced fitness of the leafhopper vector Scaphoideus titanus exposed to Flavescence doree phytoplasma

Scaphoideus titanus Ball (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), a specialist and univoltine leafhopper on grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) (Vitaceae), is a vector of Flavescence doree phytoplasma (FDP) in vineyards of European temperate areas. Males and females of the leafhopper were exposed to FDP by feeding on infected broad bean (Vicia faba L.) (Fabaceae). Detection of FDP by the amplification of phytoplasma DNA with polymerase chain reaction assays of individual insects revealed an acquisition rate of 91.4% (96/105) after an acquisition access period of 13 days. The adult life span of FD-exposed males and females was much less than that of leafhoppers fed on healthy broad bean, as revealed by ANOVA on the quartiles of survival distribution and Weibull scale parameter. The progeny of exposed females (number of nymphs emerging from eggs deposited on woody cane segments) was significantly less than the progeny of unexposed females. Eggs produced by FD-exposed females were slightly but significantly delayed in hatching. Reduced fecundity was confirmed by dissecting FD-exposed and non-exposed 42-day-old females and counting the number of fully sized eggs in each leafhopper. There was no evidence of transovarial passage of FDP in the offspring of infected females after 72 nymphs were reared on a healthy grapevine until the fifth instar or adult appearance and then confined on broad bean seedlings.