Wing shape variation among three biotypes of Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776) can cause significant economic losses in different crops in China. In the present study, we evaluated wing shape and size variation among biotypes from tobacco, Nicotiana spp. (Solanaceae), cabbage, Brassica oleracea L. (Brassicaceae), and peach, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch (Rosaceae), and tested whether specimens could be distinguished at the population level. Fifteen landmarks were measured on the wings and used to generate geometric morphometric size and shape data from 137 specimens of M. persicae from three host plants: tobacco, cabbage and peach. Analysis of wing size showed that the peach biotype had the smallest wing centroid size. A one-way ANOVA of centroid size showed significant inter- and intra-populational differences. A Tukey post-hoc test revealed that the wing centroid size of the peach population was significantly smaller than that of either the tobacco or cabbage population. DFA cross-validation test showed that all tobacco biotype specimens were correctly classified, while 83% and 84.1% of peach and cabbage biotype specimens, respectively, were correctly classified. These results suggest that geometric morphometries based on wing shape has potential for distinguishing M. persicae biotypes.