Study of Behavioral Change of Western Corn Rootworm Beetle by Crop and Sex in Maize and Soybean Fields in Northwestern Indiana, USA

Barna, Gy. and Kiss, J. and Gerber, C. and Bledsoe, L. W. and Edwards, C. R. (1999) Study of Behavioral Change of Western Corn Rootworm Beetle by Crop and Sex in Maize and Soybean Fields in Northwestern Indiana, USA. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica, 34 (4). pp. 393-402. ISSN 0238-1249

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Abstract

WCR adults generally lay their eggs in maize and their larvae feed almost exclusively on maize roots (Smith,1966,Branson and Ortman,1967,1971,Branson and Krysan,1981,Levine and Oloumi- Sadeghi,1991).For this reason,farmers have accepted growing maize in rotation with soybean to manage WCR larval populations without the use of soil insecticides.Recently,in Northwest Indiana and East Central Illinois in the USA,western corn rootworm has adapted to the above management system (Gerber et al., 1997).A portion of WCR eggs is laid in soybean and in other crops like alfalfa.This behavioral change increases the potential for survival of WCR larvae the following year since most soybean fields are rotated to maize.During the summers of 1996,1997,and 1998 field studies related to this behavioral shift were conducted in northwestern Indiana.Eleven pairs of maize/soybean fields were selected for the study.During these sampling periods,WCR beetles were present in both maize and soybean.Empirical observations show that there were higher numbers of females in soybean when compared to maize.

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