A Technique for Electronically Recording Aphid Feeding and Salivation

APHID feeding and salivation has long intrigued entomologists. The knowledge of when and where these activities occur in the plant may contribute to the solution of the problems of plant virus acquisition and inoculation by aphids as well as by other insects. At present, no satisfactory techniques exist to detail these activities. In our search for a method to explain these phenomena, we developed a technique to record electronically some phases of aphid feeding and salivation within a plant or other electrically conductive substrates.