Transgenic crops producing insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely used to control pests, but their benefits will be lost if pests evolve resistance. The mandated high-dose/ refuge strategy for delaying pest resistance requires planting refuges of toxin-free crops near Bt crops to promote survival of susceptible pests. We report that pollen-mediated gene flow up to 31 m from Bt maize caused low to moderate Bt toxin levels in kernels of non-Bt maize refuge plants. Immunoassays of non-Bt maize sampled from the field showed that the mean concentration of Bt toxin Cry1Ab in kernels and the percentage of kernels with Cry1Ab decreased with distance from Bt maize. The highest Bt toxin concentration in pooled kernels of non-Bt maize plants was 45% of the mean concentration in kernels from adjacent Bt maize plants. Most previous work on gene flow from transgenic crops has emphasized potential effects of transgene movement on wild relatives of crops, landraces, and organic plantings, whereas implications for pest resistance have been largely ignored. Variable Bt toxin production in seeds of refuge plants undermines the highdose/refuge strategy and could accelerate pest resistance to Bt crops. Thus, guidelines should be revised to reduce gene flow between Bt crops and refuge plants.

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We examined 17 pairs of near-isogenic hybrids of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) (176, Mon810, and Bt11) and non-Bt corn, Zea mays L., to examine the effects of Bt on larval densities of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) and Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) during 2 yr. During ear formation, instar densities of H. zea and S. frugiperda were recorded for each hybrid. We found that H. zea first, second, and fifth instar densities were each affected by Mon810 and Bt11 Bt corn but not by 176 corn. Surprisingly, first and second instars were found in higher numbers on ears of Mon810 and Bt11 corn than on non-Bt corn. Densities of third and fourth instars were equal on Bt and non-Bt hybrids, whereas densities of fifth instars were lower on Bt plants. S. frugiperda larval densities were only affected during 1 yr when second, and fourth to sixth instars were lower on ears of Mon810 and Bt11 hybrids compared with their non-Bt counterparts. Two likely explanations for early instar H. zea densities being higher on Bt corn than non-Bt corn are that (1) Bt toxins delay development, creating a greater abundance of early instars that eventually die, and (2) reduced survival of H. zea to later instars on Bt corn decreased the normal asymmetric cannibalism or H. zea-S. frugiperda intraguild predation of late instars on early instars. Either explanation could explain why differences between Bt and non-Bt plants were greater for H. zea than S. frugiperda, because H. zea is more strongly affected by Bt toxins and more cannibalistic.