Examining the competitive advantage of Diuraphis noxia (Hemiptera: Aphididae) biotype 2 over biotype 1

The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov) is a serious pest of small grains, such as wheat and barley. High population growth rates and a broad gramineae host range have allowed this aphid to successfully establish and become pestiferous across much of North America since its invasion in the mid-1980s. Resistant wheat cultivars were developed and provided control ofD. noxia until 2003, when a new biotype (designated RWA2, as contrasted with the original biotype's designation, RWA1) emerged and rapidly spread through dryland winter wheat-growing regions. RWA2 displaced RWA1 more quickly than expected, based on RWA2's advantage in RWA1-resistant wheat cultivars. Previous research suggested that RWA2 may out-compete RWA1 in cooler temperatures. Thus, we sought to determine if RWA2 had a competitive advantage over RWA1 during the overwintering period. We placed a known distribution of RWA1 and RWA2 aphids in the field for the winter at three sites across a latitudinal gradient (from northern Colorado to Texas) to test for a competitive advantage between these biotypes. We found overwhelming support for an overwintering competitive advantage by RWA2 over RWA1, with evidence suggesting a > 10-fold advantage even at our Texas site (i.e., the site with the mildest winter). This substantial overwintering advantage helps explain the quick dispersion and displacement of RWA1 by RWA2.