Towards better management of Bt-corn resistance to Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenne), in the Philippines: biological and developmental studies of the pest on selected alternate host plants

Issue Date

10-2004

Abstract

With the increasing hectarage planted to Bt-corn in different regions of the country, the development of corn borer resistance may cause serious problems in the future. It is imperative that an appropriate insect resistance management scheme should be in place. This paper aims to provide baseline information on the different alternate host plants of ACB and the insect's growth and development on said plants. Results of the survey conducted in three major corn-growing regions revealed that the potential alternate host crops are tomato, pepper, sitao, okra, cotton and sugarcane whereas the potential weed hosts are aguingay, napier, tigbi, paragrass and wild sorghum. For the biological and developmental studies, tomato, pepper, cotton, sitao, aguingay, napier, tigbi and corn were used. With some modification of the rearing method used, ACB completed development (egg to adult)on corn and on the weeds aguingay, napier and tigbi but not on tomato and pepper. It appears that tomato and pepper are transient hosts for activities other than feeding and oviposition. Other techniques were developed using live plants to determine the most suitable stage of the host plant to use in assay/ feeding experiments. In the greenhouse, first instar ACB larvae infested onto 45-day-old aguingay, napier, tigbi, cotton and mungbean fed initially on the leaves of said hosts but later transferred to corn. The host preference experiments conducted in the laboratory and mini screen cages showed that corn, aguingay and cotton were preferred for oviposition and feeding. Additional work should be conducted on the biology and development of ACB on the alternate hosts, the effectiveness of alternate hosts as "refugia" in a tropical setting, and whether their presence in Bt-corn field can trigger host-switching by ACB.

Source or Periodical Title

Philippine Entomologist

ISSN

0048-3753

Volume

18

Issue

2

Page

163-164

Document Type

Article

Frequency

semi-annually

Language

English

En – AGROVOC descriptors

OSTRINIA FURNACALIS; BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS; PEST RESISTANCE; HOST PLANTS; ANIMAL DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES; PHILIPPINES

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