Evaluating Sugarcane Aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera: Aphididae), Population Dynamics, Feeding Injury, and Grain Yield Among Commercial Sorghum Varieties in Alabama

Abstract

The sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner), emerged as a severe pest of sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.), in Texas and Louisiana in 2013 and currently threatens nearly all sorghum production in the United States. Proper management of populations is critical as sugarcane aphid has a high reproductive potential and can rapidly damage plants, resulting in extensive yield losses. The overall objective of this work was to investigate sugarcane aphid population dynamics, and subsequent sorghum injury and grain yield on commercially available grain sorghum varieties in Alabama. This research includes three-site years of data that show variation in plant injury, physiological maturity, and yields among varieties tested. Although performance of each variety was variable among locations, potentially due to abiotic factors, four varieties including DKS 37-07, 1G588, 1G855, and 83P17 exhibited characteristics consistent with resistance and corroborates reports of resistance from other states.

Host plant resistance, foliar insecticide application and natural enemies play a role in the management of Melanaphis sorghi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in grain sorghum

“…However, grain sorghum data from individual locations differed either according to sorghum cultivar or insecticide application. Preserved grain yield in plots treated with flupyradifurone application across all locations (except Tift Co.) confirm the findings of previous authors who worked on M. sorghi in southeastern United States (e.g., Haar et al, 2019 ; Lahiri et al, 2021 ; Pekarcik and Jacobson, 2021 ). Yields were significantly greater in Moore Co., NC compared to the other study sites.…”

“…Further evaluation of factors including insecticide application and host plant resistance influencing M. sorghi infestations and resulting yield losses is necessary to improve IPM strategies. The use of resistant cultivars provides a baseline of protection against M. sorghi by suppressing population growth rates, limiting injury and improving grain yield, however, the performance of these varieties is geographically variable ( Lahiri et al, 2021 ; Pekarcik and Jacobson, 2021 ). Application of foliar insecticides such as flupyradifurone (Sivanto Prime, Bayer CropScience, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States) clearly suppress M. sorghi populations ( Lahiri et al, 2021 ; Pekarcik and Jacobson, 2021 ), but the efficacy of foliar application may vary by weather conditions or geographic locations ( Lahiri et al, 2021 ).…”

“…The use of resistant cultivars provides a baseline of protection against M. sorghi by suppressing population growth rates, limiting injury and improving grain yield, however, the performance of these varieties is geographically variable ( Lahiri et al, 2021 ; Pekarcik and Jacobson, 2021 ). Application of foliar insecticides such as flupyradifurone (Sivanto Prime, Bayer CropScience, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States) clearly suppress M. sorghi populations ( Lahiri et al, 2021 ; Pekarcik and Jacobson, 2021 ), but the efficacy of foliar application may vary by weather conditions or geographic locations ( Lahiri et al, 2021 ). Hence, continuous studies on the influence of host plant resistance and foliar insecticide application across locations are needed.…”

“… Gordy et al (2019) identified a range of 19–132 aphids per leaf as estimated ETs and suggested that a 40 aphid per leaf threshold across the range of cultivar., environmental, and market conditions in their study, however, this threshold needs revision for use on resistant sorghum cultivars. Previous studies demonstrate that knowledge of economic thresholds coupled with the use of aphid resistant sorghum varieties, insecticidal seed treatments, in-furrow or foliar insecticide sprays coupled with manipulation of planting date and nitrogen levels provide the basis for a comprehensive IPM program to manage M. sorghi in grain sorghum ( Sharma et al, 2013 ; Armstrong et al, 2015 ; Etheridge et al, 2018 ; Szczepaniec, 2018 ; Haar et al, 2019 ; Paudyal et al, 2019 ; Seiter et al, 2019 ; Wilson et al, 2020 ; Lahiri et al, 2021 ; Lytle and Huseth, 2021 ; Pekarcik and Jacobson, 2021 ). Further evaluation of factors including insecticide application and host plant resistance influencing M. sorghi infestations and resulting yield losses is necessary to improve IPM strategies.…”

Genetic mapping of sugarcane aphid resistance in sorghum line SC112‐14

“…The evaluation of sorghum germplasm resistant to greenbug [ Schizaphis graminum (Rondani)] found that some lines were also resistant to SCA (Armstrong et al., 2015). Multiple commercial grain sorghum hybrids with moderate‐to‐good levels of resistance have been identified for the production regions of the United States (Paudyal et al., 2019b; Pekarcik & Jacobson, 2021). However, to have durable resistance, there is a need to understand the mode of inheritance and the genes that confer resistance in these resistant sources.…”