Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #226598
Title: Adaptation and Invasiveness of Western Corn Rootworm: Intensifying Research on a Worsening Pest

Author
item GRAY, MICHAEL - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
item Sappington, Thomas
item Miller, Nicholas
item MOESER, J - GEORG-AUGUST UN., GERMANY
item BOHN, MARTIN - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Submitted to: Annual Review of Entomology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/4/2008
Publication Date: 1/1/2009
Citation: Gray, M.E., Sappington, T.W., Miller, N.J., Moeser, J., Bohn, M.O. 2009. Adaptation and Invasiveness of Western Corn Rootworm: Intensifying Research on a Worsening Pest. Annual Review Of Entomology. 54:303-321.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is an established insect pest of maize (Zea mays L.) in North America. The rotation of maize with another crop, principally soybeans, Glycine max (L.), was the primary management strategy utilized by North American producers and remained highly effective until the mid-1990s. In 1995, widespread and severe root injury occurred in east central Illinois and northern Indiana maize fields that had been annually rotated with soybeans on a regular basis for several decades. The failure of this cultural tactic from a pest management perspective was attributed to a behavioral adaptation by a variant western corn rootworm that had lost fidelity to maize for egg laying. In 1992, an infestation of western corn rootworm was found within a small maize field near the Belgrade airport. By 2007, the presence of this insect pest had been confirmed in 20 European countries. More recent molecular studies have confirmed that at least three separate invasions (until 2004) of western corn rootworms have occurred into Europe increasing the risk that rotation-resistant western corn rootworms will be introduced to a new continent. Although biological control and use of conventional resistant maize hybrids have not achieved widespread success in the management of western corn rootworms in North America, these tactics are being evaluated in Europe.