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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424426
Research Project: New Technologies and Strategies for Managing Emerging Insect Pests and Insect Transmitted Pathogens of Potatoes

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Weeding them out: Identifying non-crop hosts and sources of infectious beet leafhopper, Neoaliturus tenellus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), in the Columbia River Basin

Author
item FOUTZ, JILLIAN - Washington State University
item WAGSTAFF, CAMILLE - Washington State University
item Cooper, William
item Swisher Grimm, Kylie
item Angelella, Gina
item WOHLEB, CARRIE - Washington State University
item WATERS, TIM - Washington State University
item OELLER, LIESL - Washington State University
item CROWDER, DAVID - Washington State University

Submitted to: Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2025
Publication Date: 7/3/2025
Citation: Foutz, J.J., Wagstaff, C., Cooper, W.R., Swisher Grimm, K.D., Angelella, G.M., Wohleb, C., Waters, T., Oeller, L., Crowder, D.W. 2025. Weeding them out: Identifying non-crop hosts and sources of infectious beet leafhopper, Neoaliturus tenellus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), in the Columbia River Basin. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 118(5):420-428. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaf022.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saaf022

Interpretive Summary: Beet leafhopper is a major pest of potato and other vegetable crops in the Pacific Northwest. This insect transmits three plant pathogens to vegetables: Phytoplasma trifolii, beet curly top virus, and Spiroplasma citri. Researchers at the USDA-ARS in Wapato, WA and Washington State University investigated the landscape-level patterns in beet leafhopper dispersal with regards to epidemiology of beet leafhopper-transmitted pathogens. They found that beet leafhopper adults overwinter on autumn-germinating invasive mustards, which also frequently harbored the vegetable pathogens. Beet leafhopper adults dispersed to summer hosts Kochia and Russian thistle in spring when the spring mustards began to die back. It is during these spring dispersals that vegetable crops are most at risk of becoming infected with beet leafhopper-transmitted pathogens. The results of this study will improve risk-prediction and will aid growers in making timely management decisions.

Technical Abstract: Effective pest management requires regular monitoring to assess pest population dynamics and forecast outbreaks. For generalist insects that are vectors of plant pathogens, monitoring can also identify how variation in host plant use affects pathogen transmission. However, movement of vectors among crop and non-crop hosts often makes it challenging to coordinate sampling and identify season-long trends. We addressed this by conducting a three-year study monitoring the beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenellus Baker; Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), a pest of potato and other vegetable and seed crops as a vector of Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii (CPt) and beet curly top virus (BCTV). Specifically, potato crops and adjacent weedy hosts in the Columbia River Basin region of central Washington, USA, were sampled from 2019 to 2021 to identify developmental hosts of beet leafhopper and potential sources of pathogens. We show that adult beet leafhopper commonly overwintered on weeds such as tumble mustard and flixweed, with kochia and Russian thistle acting as summer hosts. Many of these weeds frequently harbored the CPt and BCTV pathogens. While BCTV prevalence peaked in spring, CPt prevalence remained relatively high throughout entire seasons. By assessing a vector and two plant pathogens, we show how pathogens have variable transmission strategies. Our study also shows how leveraging intense monitoring of a vector and pathogens across different host communities can improve risk-prediction and aid growers in making management decisions.