The South African aphid monitoring network is one of the most extensive suction trap networks in the southern hemisphere. The network was initiated in 2005 by Potatoes South Africa to alert growers to the risk of potato virus spread by aphids. The University of Pretoria is coordinating the network, which presently consists of 13 Rothamsted-type suction traps, 10 of which are situated in seed potato production regions. Aphid samples are collected on a daily or weekly basis. Growers and regional laboratories receive weekly SMS notifications on aphid vector numbers in KwaZulu-Natal and weekly emails on vector pressure in the Western Cape.
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