Activity of <i>Chilo partellus</i> (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): eclosion, mating and oviposition time

Päts, Peeter

doi:10.1017/s0007485300053281

Cited by 26 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The trap plants released significantly higher amounts of the attractive compounds than maize and sorghum (Birkett et al ., ), with 100‐fold increases within the first hour of scotophase (Chamberlain et al ., ). This coincides with the period during which stemborer moths are most active for oviposition (Päts, ). Maize was also found to display a similar response, although the increases were only approximately 10‐fold, accounting for the relative preference of the gravid moths for the trap plants compared to maize.…”

Section: Development and Effectiveness Of The Push–pull Technologysupporting

confidence: 53%

Ecological management of cereal stemborers in African smallholder agriculture through behavioural manipulation

Midega

Bruce

Pickett

2015

Ecological Entomology

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1. Africa faces serious challenges in feeding its rapidly growing human population owing to the poor productivity of maize and sorghum, the most important staple crops for millions of smallholder farmers in the continent, with yields being among the lowest in the world.2. A complex of lepidopterous stemborers attack cereals in Africa. However, their effective control is difficult, largely as a result of the cryptic and nocturnal habits of moths, and protection provided by host stem for immature pest stages. Moreover, current control measures are uneconomical and impractical for resource‐poor farmers.3. An ecological approach, based on companion planting, known as ‘push–pull’, provides effective management of these pests, and involves combined use of inter‐ and trap cropping systems where stemborers are attracted and trapped on trap plants with added economic value (‘pull’), and are driven away from the cereal crop by antagonistic intercrops (‘push’).4. Novel defence strategies inducible by stemborer oviposition have recently been discovered, leading to the attraction of egg and larval parasitoids, in locally adapted maize lines but not in elite hybrids. We also established that landscape complexity did not improve the ecosystem service of biological control, but rather provided a disservice by acting as a ‘source’ of stemborer pests colonising the crop.5. Here we review and provide new data on the direct and indirect effects of the push–pull approach on stemborers and their natural enemies, including the mechanisms involved, and highlight opportunities for exploiting intrinsic plant defences and natural ecosystem services in pest management in smallholder farming systems in Africa.

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Section: Development and Effectiveness Of The Push–pull Technologysupporting

confidence: 53%

Ecological management of cereal stemborers in African smallholder agriculture through behavioural manipulation

Midega

Bruce

Pickett

2015

Ecological Entomology

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“…Indeed larval survival is poorer on Napier grass (Khan et al, 2006a), signal grass, and 'Mulato' (CAO Midega, unpubl.) than on maize and sorghum. Napier grass produces significantly more (amount and number) physiologically active compounds than maize and sorghum within the first 2 h of the scotophase (Birkett et al, 2006;Chamberlain et al, 2006), when the moths seek host plants for oviposition (Päts, 1991). It is this convergence of period of increased production and release of attractive volatile cues and the moths' active period that explains the higher attractiveness of Napier grass relative to the cultivated host plants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host plant selection behaviour of Chilo partellus and its implication for effectiveness of a trap crop

Midega¹,

Khan²,

Pickett³

et al. 2010

Entomologia Experimentalis Et Applicata

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Female lepidopterans can display a hierarchy of preference among potential host species, a trait thought to arise from the balance between attractants and deterrents to which the insects respond. Host plant ranking by moths and larvae of Chilo partellus Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an important pest of cereals in Africa, was investigated, and whether eggs deposited on specific host plants yield larvae of particular host preferences. Trap plants are used in management of this pest. However, any ‘disagreement’ in host ranking between moths and larvae could potentially reduce effectiveness of trap crops as larvae emigrate to the main crop from the parent’s preferred trap plant. We also investigated whether host plant preference is influenced by the diet upon which larvae fed as part of an integrated assessment of the relationship between host plant selection and learning in C. partellus. Five host plants (all Poaceae) were used: maize (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor Moench), Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach), and two varieties of signal grass [Brachiaria brizantha (A. Rich.) Stapf], viz., local (henceforth signal grass) and improved (‘Mulato’). In multiple choice tests, C. partellus female moths preferentially oviposited on Napier grass, followed by sorghum, maize, and signal grass, and least preferred ‘Mulato’. Larvae however equally orientated and settled on leaf cuts of maize, sorghum, signal grass, and Napier grass, but least preferred ‘Mulato’. Moreover, eggs from specific host plants did not yield larvae of particular host preferences. Furthermore, oviposition preference was not altered by the larval food. These results imply only a slight ‘disagreement’ in host ranking behaviour between moths and larvae, which is beneficial for trap cropping as larvae would not ‘reject’ the trap plant and appreciably disperse to the neighboring plants. Moreover, absence of larval learning behaviour indicates that regardless of the larval food C. partellus moths would still be attracted to the selected trap plant.

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“…Spotted stemborer (Chilo partellus) (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is a serious pest of gramineous crops in Asia and Africa with the larvae being the injurious stage (Kfir et al, 2002). Mating of the moths occur on the night of eclosion and the female moths are ready to oviposit the following night (Päts, 1991). In the field, moths oviposit mostly on young (3-4 weeks old) maize plants (Kfir et al, 2002).…”

Section: Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Than “Push” and “Pull”? Plant-Soil Feedbacks of Maize Companion Cropping Increase Chemical Plant Defenses Against Herbivores

et al. 2019

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Plants can alter nutritional availability, structure, and chemistry of the soil they grow in. These soil changes can positively or negatively influence the growth and metabolism of other plants that co-occur or grow later in the conditioned soil. Plant-soil feedbacks could affect community interactions and dynamics but also be applied in sustainable agriculture to promote plant growth and resistance to pests. In this study, we use a maize companion cropping system, commonly known as "push-pull," as a model to investigate soil-mediated effects of functional biodiversity, on maize plant growth, and resistance against insect herbivores. We grew maize in soils collected from push-pull (polyculture) and non-push-pull (monoculture) fields. We evaluated maize performance by measuring plant growth, as well as resistance traits (herbivore oviposition and larval feeding, production of defense-related volatile, and non-volatile secondary defense metabolites). Maize plants grown in soil conditioned by push-pull companion cropping had a higher growth rate compared to those grown in soil from non-push-pull monoculture fields. In addition, soil from push-pull fields induced a constitutively higher and qualitatively different emission of volatile organic compounds than soil from non-push-pull fields. Moreover, secondary defense metabolites such as 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-2H-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DIMBOA), were produced in larger quantities in plants grown in soil from push-pull fields compared to those from monoculture fields. These soil-mediated alterations in plant secondary metabolism were associated with reduced herbivory by larvae of the stemboring pest Chilo partelllus. This study provides novel evidence that plant-soil feedbacks can affect plant metabolism, growth, and resistance to pests. The observed soil-mediated effects on maize plant secondary metabolism can be viewed as emergent properties of plant community composition as well as a potent mechanism of associational resistance. In addition, these soil-conditioning effects provide a novel pest control mechanism of push-pull companion cropping.

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Activity of Chilo partellus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): eclosion, mating and oviposition time

Cited by 26 publications

References 6 publications

Ecological management of cereal stemborers in African smallholder agriculture through behavioural manipulation

Ecological management of cereal stemborers in African smallholder agriculture through behavioural manipulation

Host plant selection behaviour of Chilo partellus and its implication for effectiveness of a trap crop

More Than “Push” and “Pull”? Plant-Soil Feedbacks of Maize Companion Cropping Increase Chemical Plant Defenses Against Herbivores

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