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Associations between host plant concentrations of selected biochemical nutrients and M exican rice borer, E oreuma loftini , infestation
Author(s) -
Showler Allan T.,
Moran Patrick J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/eea.12177
Subject(s) - biology , infestation , pest analysis , sorghum , honeydew , agronomy , crop , forage , pyralidae , poaceae , host (biology) , botany , horticulture , ecology
The M exican rice borer, E oreuma loftini ( D yar) ( L epidoptera: C rambidae), is an economic pest of sugarcane ( S accharum spp. hybrids) and other graminaceous host crops, and it attacks grassy weeds. Oviposition preference has been known to be for plants with leaves that form folds. This study is the first to associate the nutritional quality of crop and forage plant hosts with Mexican rice borer injury. Three experiments were conducted to determine the levels of selected biochemical nutrients, including free amino acids and sugars, in four grass weeds [barnyardgrass, E chinochloa crus‐galli ( L .); broadleaf signalgrass, U rochloa platyphylla ( M unro ex C . W right); johnsongrass, S orghum halepense ( L .) P ers.; and V asey's grass, P aspalum urvillei S teud.], a forage grass [sudangrass, S orghum bicolor ( L .) M oensch spp. drummondi ( N ees ex S teud.) de W et & H arlan], three crop species [maize, Z ea mays L .; sorghum, S orghum bicolor ( L .) M oench; and sugarcane, S accharum spp.], and a sorghum‐sudangrass forage hybrid (all P oaceae). Of 16 free amino acids detected among plants in the first two experiments, only high accumulations of free histidine in sudangrass and maize were associated with increased infestations by M exican rice borer larvae. In all three experiments, high levels of fructose were associated with heightened M exican rice borer infestation. Ramifications of these findings on the potential dispersal of this invasive pest in the USA and possible applications of fructose in baits are discussed.