Abstract: The simultaneous display technique of electrical penetration graph (EPG) was used to study the effects of the wave potential drop(pd) and its sub-phases in the acquisition of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) by the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii from the infected melon plants. The presence of the intracellular punctures indicated by the wave pd in EPG records is the prerequisite of the acquisition of CMV by aphids (1 pd vs 0 pd: 47.1% vs 0%, P<0.001). The transmission efficiency was positively correlated with the number of pd (4 pd vs 1 pd: 80% vs 47.1%, P=0.023; 5pd vs 1pd: 90.5% vs 47.1%, P=0.001). The analysis of subphase showed that acquisition occurred primarily during the sub-phase Ⅱ-3 of intracellular punctures. This result supports the 'ingestion hypothesis' for nonpersistent virus acquisition.The feeding behavior and the acquisition of CMV by the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii.

Key words: Aphis gossypii, CMV, electrical penetration graph(EPG), potential drop(pd), virus acquisition