An Assessment of Steinernema rarum as a Biocontrol Agent in Sugarcane with Focus on Sphenophorus levis, Host-Finding Ability, Compatibility with Vinasse and Field Efficacy

In Brazil, countless insect species attack and damage sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.), which is an extremely important crop since it is planted on more than 10 million hectares. Among these insects, the sugarcane billbug, Sphenophorus levis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is of great importance as the larvae open tunnels in the rhizome of the plant, causing high damage and losses. This insect is attracted mainly to vinasse, which is the liquid fraction generated from the alcohol production and discarded onto the sugarcane fields for fertigation. Toward a novel control method for S. levis, the native entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema rarum (Pam 25) was compared with S. carpocapsae (IL 1) and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (HBEN01) in respect to their ability to search for larvae of two insect hosts (Galleria mellonella and S. levis) within the cane rhizome. The selected nematode S. rarum was also assessed for rate effects, its survival in vinasse and field efficacy to control sugarcane pests S. levis, Hyponeuma taltula (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) and Leucothyreus alvarengai (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae). Steinernema rarum exhibited superior virulence to G. mellonella and S. levis larvae inserted into the cane rhizomes (75–78% mortality) compared to S. carpocapsae (30–53%) and H. bacteriophora (18–28%). Vinasse affected S. rarum when infective juveniles were suspended in the liquid compost for more than 6 h but did not affect the nematode when kept on the straw and soil treated with the compost. Steinernema rarum tested at 1–3 × 108 infective juveniles/ha on the sugarcane field caused 74.1, 56.3 and 50.6% control of S. levis, L. alvarengai and H. taltula, respectively.

Abundance of Soil Insect Pests in Florida Sugarcane

This 6-page fact sheet written by Ron Cherry, Mabry McCray, Hardev Sandhu, and Michael Karounos and published by the UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Department is intended to inform sugarcane growers, scouts, pesticide applicators, and researchers about fluctuations of economically important sugarcane pests and implications for the management of those pests.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1313

Niche Modeling of Economically Important Mahanarva (Hemiptera, Cercopidae) Species in South and Central America: Are Brazilian Spittlebug Sugarcane Pests Potential Invaders of South and Central America?

Mahanarva fimbriolata, Mahanarva spectabilis, Mahanarva liturata, and Mahanarva posticata (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) are known pests in South American sugarcane and pasture plantations. They cause phytotoxicity by feeding directly from plant sap, greatly decreasing their production. In this work, we applied Species Distribution Modeling using the Maxent algorithm to analyze these four spittlebug species possible occurrence in South and Central America. Therefore, current and future bioclimatic variables, as well as elevation and other agricultural variables, were used within RStudio. Future climatic variables were differentiated between the years 2050 and 2070 with several representative concentration pathways. Overall, the species showed various suitable habitats in different countries of South and Central America. Nevertheless, when compared with future climate analysis, the number of suitable habitats is declining due to climate change. Elevation, isothermality, and different precipitation variables were mainly responsible for the results. We were able to analyze that spittlebug populations are not limited by temperature, but rather by other abiotic factors, such as precipitation.

Hama Penggerek Tebu dan Perkembangan Teknik Pengendaliannya

<p>ABSTRACT<br />Effort has been made to improve sugarcane productivity, but it often confronted by pests. Pests in sugarcane caused a loss of about 10% sugar production. In sugarcane, pests that are considered to be most important are shoot borer and three types of stem borer. Until now there has been obtained control technology for reducing population of the bore pests. In fact the development of pest control technology in sugarcane is relatively slow. Pest control technology used is based on the development of sugarcane in wetland. Shifting<br />of sugarcane development to dryland should be followed by changes in pest control technology. This paper aimed to inventory the components of pest control technology available in sugarcane and following up into packets of pest control technology in dryland. Packages of pest control in sugarcane that recommended to be applied are 1) land management that focused on the returning crop residues to the soil and planting green manure crops between rows of sugarcane to increase the diversity of arthropods, especially predators, 2) planting pest-free seed and using tolerant varieties to prevent the spread of pests in the field, 3) monitoring population dynamics of the pest in the field, 4) biological control, among others, using the egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis, 5) control to mechanical manner, such as by taking the egg and caterpillar and destroy it, including roges on the plant shoots attacked by shoot borers, 6) chemical control, the final act when other control methods failed to suppress pest populations, such as carbofuran, and 7) control based on government regulation/law legislation to suppress the spread of pests from one region to another.<br />Keywords: Sugarcane, sugarcane borers, symptoms of damage, crop losses, biology, control techniques, control package.<br /><br /></p><p>Abstrak</p><p>Upaya peningkatan produktivitas tanaman tebu sering terkendala oleh serangan hama. Hama pada tanaman tebu menyebabkan penurunan produksi gula sekitar 10%. Hama penting pada tanaman tebu ialah penggerek pucuk dan tiga jenis penggerek batang. Perkembangan teknologi pengendalian hama penggerek pada tanaman tebu berjalan lambat. Teknologi pengendalian hama yang digunakan masih berdasar pada pengembangan tebu di lahan sawah. Bergesernya pengembangan tebu ke lahan tadah hujan seharusnya diikuti perubahan teknologi pengendalian hama. Tulisan ini menginventarisasi komponen teknologi pengendalian hama pada tanaman tebu dan merakitnya menjadi paket teknologi pengen-dalian hama di lahan tadah hujan. Paket pengendalian hama pada tanaman tebu yang disarankan ialah 1) pengelolaan lahan, misalnya pengembalian residu tanaman ke lahan dan menanam tanaman pupuk hijau di antara barisan tanaman tebu untuk meningkatkan keragaman anthropoda terutama predator, 2) menanam benih bebas hama dan menggunakan varietas toleran untuk mencegah penyebaran hama di pertanaman, 3) memantau dinamika populasi hama di lapangan. 4) pengendalian hayati, antara lain menggunakan parasitoid telur Trichogramma chilonis, 5) pengendalian secara makanis dengan mengambil telur dan ulat dan memusnahkannya serta melakukan roges pada pucuk tanaman yang terserang hama penggerek pucuk, (6) pengendalian secara kimiawi, merupakan tindakan terakhir apabila cara pengendalian lain tidak berhasil menekan populasi hama, misalnya dengan karbofuran, dan 7) pengendalian berdasarkan peraturan pemerintah/undang-undang untuk menekan penyebaran hama dari suatu daerah ke daerah lain.<br /><br /></p>

Effects of entomopathogenic fungi on different developmental stages of Cotesia flavipes (Cam.) a parasitoid of Diatraea flavipennella (Box) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Biological control using the parasitoid Cotesia flavipes (Cam.) is one of the main components in the integrated management of the sugarcane moth borer Diatraea spp. Besides this parasitoid, the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorok. are used to control sugarcane pests, and they can be found naturally parasitizing caterpillars. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of M. anisopliae and B. bassiana on different developmental stages of the C. flavipes parasitoid on Diatraea flavipennella (Box). The experiments were carried at laboratory with isolates PL 43 of M. anisopliae and ESALQ 447 of B. bassiana were applied to the parasitoid at the immature and adult phases. No negative effects were observed on the larval development of C. flavipes, and it could complete its development on caterpillars of D. flavipennella treated with fungi. The fungi did not cause pupal mortality. However, B. bassiana caused high mortality in the adult parasitoid (76%). The fungi had negative effects on parasitoids when applied during certain developmental stages of C. flavipes.