Infection by Bois noir tuf-type-I stolbur phytoplasma in Hyalesthes obsoletus (Homoptera: Cixiidae) and influence on larval size

Recent dramatic spread of the grapevine yellows disease Bois Noir (BN) in Germany is above all explained by highly increased abundances of the vector Hyalesthes obsoletus (Hemiptera: Cixiidae) associated to the plant Urtica dioica, the reservoir of the BN pathogen stolbur tuf-type-I. The vector acquires BN-phytoplasma as larvae whilst feeding on the roots of infected U. dioica. To understand the dynamics of the Urtica-cycle, we tested at what instar larvae become infected and whether infection affects larvae size (i.e. growth) at two sites in the Mosel Valley, Germany. Larvae were tested from infected plants and collected at instar-stages 3, 4 and 5. Larvae at stage 3 were already infected but infection rates increased significantly between stage 3 and 5, mean infection rates: 0.12–0.62. There was no effect of infection on larval size at any instar stage.