Agronomy and Horticulture Department
ORCID IDs
Date of this Version
3-10-2021
Citation
Pest Manag Sci 2021; 77: 2939–2947 DOI 10.1002/ps.6330
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Crop pest management requires an understanding of the complex interactions among species that potentially impact crop yield. In soybean, the velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hübner), and the soybean looper, Chrysodeixis includens (Walker), are described as key pests, sharing the same feeding guild. We assessed the intraguild interactions of these species under laboratory conditions. Fitness cost study was conducted to examine the influence of competition on insect development. A video tracking system was used to evaluate behavioral parameters during larval interactions in scenarios with and without food availability. RESULTS: In the fitness cost assay, pupal weight was not significantly affected, regardless of sex. However, larval and pupal survival were influenced by the competition, especially in third versus fifth instar scenarios. We detected 40.00% cannibalism and 46.67% predation when A. gemmatalis and C. includens third instars competed with A. gemmatalis fifth instar, respectively. Distance moved, distance between larvae, body contact (food available) and frequency in food of C. includens larvae were negatively affected by interactions. Anticarsia gemmatalis larvae showed highly active behavior, moving twice or more the distance compared to C. includens larvae, and A. gemmatalis spent more time in body contact with food. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that A. gemmatalis has a competitive advantage over C. includens. This study provides important information regarding lepidopteran behavior in soybean. We recommended that additional studies are necessary to understand the effects of interactions, especially in field conditions.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agriculture Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Botany Commons, Horticulture Commons, Other Plant Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons
Comments
CC-BY