Description

Abstract: A comparison of the survival and reproductive success of Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on tomato spotted wilt virus (Bunyviridae: Tospovirus) (TSWV) infected and uninfected peanut plants was conducted under greenhouse conditions in North Carolina. Three cultivars–NC 9, NC-V11, and NC 12C–adapted to North Carolina production practices were evaluated. A total of 180 individually caged plants, in three replicates, were infested with 20 female F. fusca each. Adult and larval thrips were collected after 30 d on the plants. Final counts were square root transformed and a mixed model analysis of variance conducted. Effects of cultivar and the virus-by-cultivar interaction were not statistically significant. TSWV-infected plants had significantly fewer adult and larval F. fusca than did uninfected plants for adults (P = 0.04) and for larvae (P = 0.01). This study reports on an alternative method of assessing TSWV resistance among peanut cultivars and the trend appears to support the conclusions of a previous field study, which found NC 9 more susceptible to TSWV than either NC-V11 or NC 12C.