Chinch Bug-Resistant Buffalograss: An Investigation of Tolerance, Antixenosis, and Antibiosis

Authors

Tiffany Heng-Moss, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Frederick P. Baxendale, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Terrance P. Riordan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Linda J. Young, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kit Lee, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

12-1-2003

Comments

Published in J. Econ. Entomol. 96(6): 1942-1951 (2003). Copyright © 2003 Entomological Society of America. Used by permission.

Abstract

Choice and no-choice studies were conducted to determine the categories (antibiosis, antixenosis, and tolerance) of resistance of four buffalograsses (NE91-118, ‘Bonnie Brae’, ‘Cody’, and ‘Tatanka’) previously identified as resistant to the western chinch bug, Blissus occiduus Barber. Antibiosis studies found no significant differences in western chinch bug fecundity, nymphal development, or survival among the resistant and susceptible buffalograsses. Tolerance studies indicated that NE91-118, Cody, and Tatanka exhibited moderate-to-high levels of tolerance based on western chinch bug damage ratings and plant height, whereas Bonnie Brae exhibited moderate-to-low levels of tolerance. Choice studies indicated the presence of antixenosis in NE91-118, whereas Cody and Tatanka showed little or no antixenosis. Scanning electron microscopy was used to disclose morphological differences between NE91-118 (resistant) and ‘378’ (susceptible). The epicuticular wax structures and trichome densities were similar between 378 and NE91-118, suggesting that morphological structures do not contribute to NE91-118 antixenosis.