Susceptibility of nine apple cultivars to woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Jordan

This 4-year study examined the susceptibility of nine cultivars of apple, Malus domestica Borkhausen to attack by woolly apple aphid (WAA), Eriosoma lanigerum in Jordan. The cultivars under investigation were: Prima Rouge, Delberd Steval, Early Gold, Starking Delicious, Harmony, Golden Smoothee, Fuji, Melrose, and Golden Delicious. Estimation of susceptibility was based upon a numeric scale of 0-4 for both root and shoot, but each with different specifications. A tree infestation rating was obtained by calculating the average rating of both edaphic and arboreal ratings of each tree. Fuji was significantly the most infested cultivar during the period of study and it ranked as a highly susceptible cultivar. Prima Rouge, Early Gold, Starking Delicious, Golden Smoothee, and Golden Delicious showed lower susceptibility. Harmony was an immune cultivar as it sustained neither edaphic (root inhabiting) nor arboreal colonies of woolly apple aphid. We propose the development of rootstocks from Harmony cultivar. The latter offers a new gene for resistance to WAA that will open the door for plant breeders to produce different resistant rootstocks.