The beetle Cerotoma arcuata Oliv. (1791) is a vector of the cowpea severe mosaic Comovirus (CpSMV) and of several leguminous viruses in Brazil. In 1991, an isolate of CpSMV, later designed as CpSMV-SP, was found on plants of Vigna luteola Jacq. (Leguminosae) from the region of Praia Grande, in the South coastal area of the São Paulo State, Brazil. In order to obtain a better understanding of the CpSMV-SP transmission, different arthropod species, including seven insects species and one mite, species were studied as vectors. The transmission rates by adults of C. arcuata were high (46.6, 50.0 and 70.0%) on bean and by 1st instar larvae were 40.0% on bean and 10.0% on cowpea. Transmission by other arthropod orders (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae, Aphididae; Acari: Tetranychidae; Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and by other Coleoptera species failed.
arthropods; vectors; cowpea severe mosaic virus
