Influence of leafhopper (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) gender and female mating status on plant disease dynamics within a simple habitat

The influence of Graminella nigrifrons gender and female mating status on the disease dynamics of leafhopper-transmitted maize chlorotic dwarf machlovirus was examined in a maize Zea mays monoculture. Diseased plants resulting from the release of males at the center of plots were less aggregated than for female treatments. Release of males resulted in a mean disease gradient slope that was significantly more shallow than female treatments. Measures of dispersion also indicated a tendency for disease aggregation resulting from virgin females to be intermediate to males and mated females. Although the level of aggregation was most different for male and mated female treatments, there was no significant difference between these treatments for overall disease incidence, indicating that the pattern of disease spread, but not overall disease incidence, was influenced. Results suggest that an understanding of mating behavior may contribute to our understanding of plant disease dynamics. -from Authors