Availability of cocoa swollen shoot virus to mealybugs from tolerant and sensitive cocoa

Availability of the virulent 1 A strain of cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV) to the mealybug vector Planococcoides njalensis (Laing) has been examined in virus-tolerant and virus-sensitive cocoa. Availability has been studied both in young (10-12 months) and in mature (7-17 years) cocoa. Acquisition feeds were given directly on young plants in the greenhouse, and on mature trees in the field without severing the branch. While transmissions varied greatly both between tests and individual plants it was clearly established that virus was much more readily recovered from mature sensitive than mature tolerant trees. No difference between sensitive and tolerant young cocoa was detected