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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Disease and Pest Management Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #431965
Research Project: Sustainable Management of Arthropod Pests in Horticultural Crops

Location: Horticultural Crops Disease and Pest Management Research Unit

Title: Surveying for potential grapevine red blotch virus vectors in an Oregon vineyard

Author
item Lee, Jana
item Keller, Karen
item Lake, Amanda
item Soule, Michelle
item Martin, Robert

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/19/2026
Publication Date: 5/9/2026
Citation: Lee, J.C., Keller, K.E., Lake, A.J., Soule, M.L., Martin, R.R. 2026. Surveying for potential grapevine red blotch virus vectors in an Oregon vineyard. Journal of Economic Entomology. Article toag129. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toag129.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toag129

Interpretive Summary: Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) reduces grapevine vigor, sugar content of grapes, and wine quality worldwide. While one insect vector has been clearly identified to transfer the virus from infected vines to uninfected vines, other vectors are likely to exist. We surveyed an infected vineyard for two years, collecting potential vectors and testing them for GRBV transmission. Three potential insect vectors were identified and need more extensive examination of their ability to vector GRBV and determine if growers also need to develop management programs for these potential vectors.

Technical Abstract: Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) reduces grapevine vigor, delays grape ripening, reduces sugar content and quality of wines in the U.S. and worldwide. To date, the three-cornered alfalfa hopper has been clearly identified as a vector in the U.S. Since transmission rates by this hopper were low and the hopper has not been observed in some highly infected vineyards, additional vectors of GRBV are likely. To search for other vectors, we conducted a two-year survey in an infected vineyard collecting live hemipterans from vines and surrounding grass, trees and shrubs. Most insects were immediately used in greenhouse transmission tests to infect clean grapevines, and a subset of insects were frozen for PCR tests. Out of 147 transmission tests, three were positive when exposed to the leafhoppers Euscelidius variegatus and Dikraneura absenta and delphacid Nothodelphax sp. Whole-body PCR tests of both E. variegatus and D. absenta frozen directly from the field were positive confirming that they ingested GRBV from the field (no Nothodelphax tested). PCR tests of the cixiid Cixius sp. and leafhoppers Fieberiella florii and Gyponana octolineata were positive but the grapevine transmission tests did not support the leafhoppers as vectors (no Cixius transmission tests). Screening a wide variety of hemipterans from an infected field focuses on relevant insects and avoids the difficulty of rearing multiple species. This survey has identified three hemipterans for further transmission studies and for specific GRBV tests of salivary glands to fully confirm vectoring potential.