Leaf-Curl of Cotton in Garden Zinnias in North India

Abstract

IN a note on the leaf-curl of cotton,¹ Mr. M. A. Husain queries the possibility of Aleurodids being responsible for the transmission of this disease, and points out that Aleurodids do not convey it in the Punjab. Since Mr. Husain's note was written, Mr. Kirkpatrick ² has definitely proved that the Aleuro-did, Bemisia gossypiperda of Misra and Lamba, is the vector of leaf-curl of cotton, and recent investigations in Dehra Dun on a virus disease of garden zinnias suggest that it is identical with the leaf-curl of cotton and is transmitted by the same vector. Detailed results will shortly be published. Meanwhile it would seem that the presence of leaf-curl of cotton and its Aleurodid vector in India should be suggestive to those interested in the cotton industry of the country.