scholarly journals The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis [Lepidoptera : Pyralidae] : a potential pest of potatoes growth on Prince Edward Island

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.G. Stewart

The effects of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis [Lepidoptera: Pyralidae], on yield of 'Russet Burbank' potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) was investigated at two sites in Prince-Edward-Island in 1989 and 1990. At Summerside, the mean number of larvae per stalk did not exceed 0.19 in either year, and no significant differences in yield were found between untreated plots (check) and plots protected with Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (B.t.k.). At Tryon in 1989, a seasonal average of 1.16 larvae per stalk reduced total and marketable yields by 7.5% and 8.8%, respectively, compared to plots protected with B.t.k. A similar but not statistically significant trend was observed in 1990 at this site. The higher degree of damage by the European corn borer to potatoes grown on P.E.I., relative to crops grown in more southernly locations, may be due to the longer interval of attack. On P.E.I., the action threshold for the European corn borer on potatoes appears to be between 0.11 and 0.30 egg masses per stalk.

1982 ◽  
Vol 114 (9) ◽  
pp. 769-774
Author(s):  
W. M. Elliott ◽  
J. D. Richardson ◽  
J. Founk

AbstractThe mean post-mating age of mated female moths of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner), from light traps varied from 3.4 to 5.2 days during the June–September flight period at Harrow, Ontario, in a manner consistent with assignment of moths to 3 generations per year. At the beginning of the first generation the mean age was 3.66 days and rose to 5.21 before flights ceased. At the beginning of the second generation the mean age was 3.39 days and rose to 4.47 days. A third generation could be detected in early September by a significant drop in age and an increase in virgin females. The average age of mated females was negatively correlated with the proportion of virgin females in the same week (r = −0.648, P = 0.02), indicating that about 40% of the variance in age of mated females was associated with emergence of new recruits to the population. Females collected with a sweep net from their day time resting places in weeds were either the same age or older than those from the light trap. The mean age of moths from light traps was found to be not meaningful when it was tested as a factor in forecasting damage caused by their progeny in green peppers 3–5 weeks later.


2005 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-126
Author(s):  
A.P. Dornan ◽  
J.G. Stewart

The location of egg masses of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, was studied on potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) “Russet Burbank” grown on Prince-Edward-Island, Canada, from 1990 to 1992. The within-plant positions of 315 egg masses were characterized by the examination of approximately 3700 plants. Ninety-two percent of the egg masses were found on the bottom two-thirds of the plants and 95% were found on the underside of the leaflets and on the stalks. In total, 88% of the egg masses were found on the bottom two-thirds of the plants on both the stalks and the underside of the leaflets. Sampling time can be optimized if the people engaged in scouting programs concentrate their efforts on the bottom two-thirds of the stalks alone, which represents only 3.7% of the total surface area of the haulm but contains 50% of the egg masses.


1995 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Dornan ◽  
Jeff G. Stewart

AbstractThe population dynamics of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), were documented on potatoes grown in Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) from 1990 to 1992. By comparing degree-day accumulations above 10°C, both first occurrence and peak flights of male adults occurred earlier than elsewhere in North America. Because potatoes in P.E.I. are attacked earlier and over a longer period of time than potatoes grown in other regions, the insect is an important pest of potatoes in P.E.I. The correlation between peak numbers of male adults caught in pheromone traps and egg masses on potato plants was not significant (p = 0.22). However, the correlation between egg masses per potato stalk and larvae per potato stalk was significant (p = 0.003). Trapping adults and monitoring potato plants for the presence of egg masses during the period from 250 to 500 degree-days appears to be a reliable way to determine the presence of adults and the potential impact of larvae on yield of potatoes.


1992 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Royer ◽  
Jeremy N. McNeil

AbstractEuropean corn borer males have hair pencils located ventrally on the 8th sternite and these are extruded when a male approaches a calling female. The fact that (i) antennectomized females mated significantly less than both intact controls and individuals subjected to other forms of surgery, and (ii) males with hair pencils removed had a significantly lower mating success than control males, suggests that a male pheromone is involved in the mating system of the European corn borer.


1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (7) ◽  
pp. 1073-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Anton ◽  
C Löfstedt ◽  
B S Hansson

Antennal lobe neurones were investigated in the pyralid moth Ostrinia nubilalis using intracellular recording and staining techniques. Response characteristics of antennal lobe neurones from males in the so-called E and Z strains, in F1 hybrids and in parental backcrosses were studied. The antennal lobe of a male O. nubilalis comprises approximately 30 ordinary glomeruli and three enlarged glomeruli making up the macroglomerular complex (MGC). Receptor neurones enter the antennal lobe via the antennal nerve and arborize in single glomeruli. Intracellularly stained, pheromone-responding projection neurones in both parental strains arborized in different glomeruli within the MGC, irrespective of their response characteristics. Neurones were grouped according to their specificity to single pheromone components and to pheromone blends. Component-specific, blend-specific and generalist neurones were found. Specificity only occurred at low stimulus concentrations and disappeared as concentrations increased. Although all neuronal types were present in both pheromone strains and crossings, differences in abundance and sensitivity were found. In the parental strains, neurones responding to the major pheromone component and to the respective strain-specific blend were more abundant than neurones responding to the minor component and the blend produced by the other strain. Neurones investigated in ZxE hybrids responded similarly to those of E-strain males, whereas neurones in EZxZ paternal backcrosses responded similarly to those of Z males. In the hybrids and paternal backcrosses, hybrid-blend-specific neurones were present that were not found in parental-strain males.


1993 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 1137-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. Hutchison

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner, continues to be a consistent economic pest of field and sweet corn (Zea mays L.) in the upper midwestem United States. In Minnesota alone, O. nubilalis control costs and losses to sweet corn (ca. 50 630 ha) exceed $5,000,000 annually (Noetzel et al. 1985). Despite recent efforts to implement alternatives (Lewis and Bing 1991; Prokrym et al. 1992; Bartels and Hutchison 1993; Bolin et al. 1993), insecticide control continues to play a central role in O. nubilalis management programs.


1978 ◽  
Vol 110 (12) ◽  
pp. 1351-1353 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. R. McLeod

AbstractGrowth rate, diapause incidence, and diapause intensity were different in two strains of corn borers found in southwestern Ontario. Crosses between these two strains demonstrated that growth rate was female sex linked while diapause incidence was male sex linked. The effect of these two characteristics on hybridization is discussed.


1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Shanklin ◽  
D. W. Johnson ◽  
L. H. Townsend

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a major maize pest throughout the maize-growing regions of the U.S. A survey was conducted to determine the parasitoids of European corn borer in southwestern Kentucky, the major maize producing region in the state. Two species, Lixophaga variabilis (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tachinidae) and Eriobus terebrans Gravenhorst (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), were found. The most abundant species was the native L. variabilis. Only one E. terebrans was collected.


1978 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 487-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.M. Elliott ◽  
R.J. McClanahan ◽  
J. Founk

AbstractThe formation of a yellow band inside the stalk of each ovariole was a good indicator that a female European corn borer had laid eggs. The absence of these bands was less reliable as an indicator that no eggs had been laid, probably due to the time taken for the bands to form. The numbers of moths accumulating in a light trap over a week at Harrow, Ontario, and the numbers of females estimated to have laid eggs correlated significantly with the numbers of larvae developing in nearby green pepper plots 3, 4, and 5 weeks later during second generation flights. This enabled linear equations for forecasting pepper damage to be developed, in which the dissection data was more useful than the total moth catch alone.


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