| Summary: | Two phenotypically similar but genetically distinct genotypes of <i>Spissistilus festinus</i> (Say, 1830) (Hemiptera: Membracidae), a pest of legume crops in Southern United States and a vector of grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) in California vineyards, exist. No information is available on whether the two <i>S. festinus</i> genotypes, i.e., California (CA) and Southeastern (SE), are sexually compatible or whether the SE genotype can transmit GRBV. In this study, we established mixed mating <i>S. festinus</i> pairs for which the F1 offspring varied phenotypically compared with the offspring of same genotype pairs but acquired GRBV isolate NY175 at similar rates (<i>p</i> = 0.96) and with a similar viral genome copy number (<i>p</i> = 0.34). Likewise, rates of GRBV acquisition were alike for the two parental CA (58%, 61/105) and SE (61%, 65/106) genotypes (<i>p</i> = 0.74), though the GRBV copy number in the salivary glands was overall significantly higher for SE than CA individuals (<i>p</i> = 0.02). Furthermore, the GRBV transmission rate was significantly higher for the SE genotype (89%, 16/18) than the CA genotype (50%, 8/16) (<i>p</i> = 0.04). These results revealed the existence of two sexually compatible <i>S. festinus</i> genotypes with distinct GRBV transmission abilities, suggesting the need to study GRBV ecology in Southeastern United States and areas where the two genotypes might co-exist.
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