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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Protection and Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #91623
Title: INTEGRATED CONTROL OF FALL ARMYWORM (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE) USING RESISTANT PLANTS AND ENTOMOPATHOGENIC NEMATODES (RHABDITIDA: STEINERNEMATIDAE)

Author
item MOLINA-OCHOA, J. - UNIVERSIDAD DE COLIMA
item LEAMA-GUTIERREZ, J. - UNIVERSIDAD DE COLIMA
item Hamm, John
item LOPEZ-EDWARDS, M. - UNIVERSIDAD DE COLIMA

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/9/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The fall armyworm is an important pest of corn, sorghum, and grasses in the United States and Mexico and well as in much of South America. Because the fall armyworm can not overwinter in the colder parts of the U.S. it migrates north from its overwintering areas in southern Florida, southen Texas and Mexico each spring. Recently, a nematode was discovered infecting corn earworm and fall armyworm in the Rio Grand valley. After conducting tests comparing the pathogenicity of six species of nematodes against various life stages of fall armyworm, two species on nematodes were chosen to test against the prepupal stage of the fall armyworm reared on diets containing various amounts of silks from resistant corn to determine if the combination of resistant corn and nematodes could by useful for control of fall armyworm populations. This study showed that the combination of pathogenic nematodes and resistant corn could enhance the mortality of fall armyworm prepupae and therefore, could be useful for integrated management of this pest.

Technical Abstract: Laboratory experiments were conducted at Tifton, GA to determine the compatibility of plant resistance with antibiosis and the entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser) All strain and S. riobravis (Cabanillas, Raulston & Poinar) for controlling the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (FAW) prepupae. Treatments consisted of 2 nematode species as factor A, 5 diets (the regular pinto bean diet (RPBD) and RPBD diluted at the rate of 3 ml diet/2 ml water (DPBD) added with Celufil (controls), DPBD + 2.5 g of Zapalote Chico silks (ZC), DPBD + 5.0 g of ZC and DPBD + 7.5 g of ZC, as factor B, and 4 nematode concentrations (0, 2, 6 and 18 nematodes/ml) as factor C. The LC50 values were lower for S.riobravis than for S. carpocapsae across all diet treatments. For both nematode species, there was a tendency for LC50 values to decrease with increasing concentration of resistant silks. This study showed that the combination of entomopathogenic nematodes and resistant corn silks could enhance the mortality of FAW prepupae and therefore, could be useful for integrated management of the pest insect. Key Words: Spodoptera frugiperda, host plant resistance, Steinernema carpocapsae, S. riobravis, compatibility.