Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Crop Bioprotection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #170820
Title: SUITABILITY OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE INSECT TRAPS AND PHEROMONES FOR MONITORING DUSKY SAP BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: NITIDULIDAE) AND RELATED INSECTS IN BT SWEET CORN

Author
item Dowd, Patrick

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/16/2005
Publication Date: 6/1/2005
Citation: Dowd, P.F. 2005. Suitability of commercially available insect traps and pheromones for monitoring dusky sap beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and related insects in Bt sweet corn. Journal of Economic Entomology. 98(3):856-861.

Interpretive Summary: Sap beetles have been reported as important new pests of Bt sweet corn, and are important in carrying fungi to corn that make toxins (mycotoxins). Field studies in cooperation with a commercial vegetable company compared earlier USDA designed traps and pheromones with newly available commercial traps and pheromones that were similar to or based on the USDA versions that were previously shown to be effective for sap beetle monitoring in sweet corn. Both traps and pheromones were found to be equivalent and could detect sap beetles at sufficient levels to impose control measures prior to economic damage. These items are likely to be valuable in the expected expanding market for Bt sweet corn and also in mycotoxin management programs targeted toward corn in the Midwest.

Technical Abstract: Two different trap types and pheromone sources for the dusky sap beetle, Carpophilus lugubris Murray, were compared in Bt/nonBt sweet corn fields over a 3-year period. Overall, commercial traps and pheromones were equally effective as experimental traps and pheromones used previously for capturing C. lugubris and other sap beetle species. The commercial trap often caught significantly more Glischrochilus quadrisignatus Say than the experimental trap that had been used in previous studies. Bt corn significantly reduced caterpillar damage to ears compared to the nonBt isoline and did not adversely affect levels of Orius sp., the most common insect predator. Sap beetle damage was the most common insect damage to Bt sweet corn ears. Sap beetles were detected by traps at population levels below that which are likely to cause economic concern, indicating commercially available materials for monitoring sap beetles should be suitable for detecting them under commercial growing conditions.