Preliminary study of the aggregative behaviour of Scaphoideus titanus larvae

Abstract: The leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus is the vector of the Flavescence dorée. In this study,we investigated the aggregative behaviour of the larvae. We conclude from different experimentsthat larval aggregation occurs at the plant scale and the age and colour of the food source could befactors cueing an aggregation. These aggregation patterns should be studied in more details in orderto gain knowledge in the epidemiology of Flavescence dorée and eventually to develop controlstrategies based on inter-individual epideictic regulation.