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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sunflower and Plant Biology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #60567
Title: BANDED SUNFLOWER MOTH

Author
item Charlet, Laurence
item GLOGOZA, PHILLIP - NDSU
item BREWER, GARY - NDSU

Submitted to: North Dakota State University Cooperative Extension Bulletin
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/30/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The banded sunflower moth is a pest of sunflower in the northern Great Plains. Adults emerge from the soil about mid-July. Larvae are present in sunflower heads from mid-July to mid-September. Newly emerged larvae feed on pollen. Third and later instars tunnel through the disk flowers and feed on young developing seeds. As the seeds mature and harden, larvae chew into the seeds to feed. The contents of several seeds are consumed. After feeding to maturity, larvae drop to the ground and spin cocoons in the soil where they pass the winter. Cultural control methods such as tillage and planting date have been effective in reducing damage. Natural control of the moth by the action of parasites and predators in many instances prevents economic damage to the sunflower crop. Insecticides should be utilized only when populations reach the economic threshold. Since adults tend to congregate in field margins, shelterbelts and other areas outside of the sunflower field and move into the field at night to oviposit, treatment is directed at the larval stage of the banded sunflower moth which is feeding in the sunflower head. The economic threshold is the number of larvae in each head that will equal the cost of treatment. Sample tables to use in calculating the economic threshold for different control costs, market prices, and plant populations are provided. A table that can be used to predict the adult population that will result in different larval densities is also provided. The field must be monitored to determine if the adult densities corresponding to the economic threshold (larvae per head) have been reached. If treatment is warranted, it should be applied at the R5.1 sunflower plant growth stage.

Technical Abstract: The banded sunflower moth is a pest of sunflower in the northern Great Plains. Adults emerge from the soil about mid-July. Larvae are present in sunflower heads from mid-July to mid-September. Newly emerged larvae feed on pollen. Third and later instars tunnel through the disk flowers and feed on young developing seeds. As the seeds mature and harden, larvae chew into the seeds to feed. The contents of several seeds are consumed. After feeding to maturity, larvae drop to the ground and spin cocoons in the soil where they pass the winter. Cultural control methods such as tillage and planting date have been effective in reducing damage. Natural control of the moth by the action of parasites and predators in many instances prevents economic damage to the sunflower crop. Insecticides should be utilized only when populations reach the economic threshold. Since adults tend to congregate in field margins, shelterbelts and other areas outside of the sunflower field and move into the field at night to oviposit, treatment is directed at the larval stage of the banded sunflower moth which is feeding in the sunflower head. The economic threshold is the number of larvae in each head that will equal the cost of treatment. Sample tables to use in calculating the economic threshold for different control costs, market prices, and plant populations are provided. A table that can be used to predict the adult population that will result in different larval densities is also provided. The field must be monitored to determine if the adult densities corresponding to the economic threshold (larvae per head) have been reached. If treatment is warranted, it should be applied at the R5.1 sunflower plant growth stage.