Survival and oviposition of a western corn rootworm variant feeding on soybean

Abstract

The role of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merril (Fabaceae), in the circumvention of crop rotation was evaluated by observing the effects of soybean herbivory on western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) survival and oviposition. Field collected D. virgifera adults resistant to annual rotation of corn, Zea mays (L.) (Poaceae), and soybean were given the opportunity to feed on a soybean pre‐treatment diet prior to diet combinations of corn, soybean, and/or water. The number of days that the adults survived after removal of the diet combinations was used as a measure of insect vigor and diet quality. Willingness to feed on a soybean foliage pre‐treatment did not indicate greater ability to benefit nutritionally from soybean herbivory. Adult D. virgifera previously feeding on corn, soybean, or water survived starvation for 8.3 ± 0.15 days, 5.1 ± 0.13 days, and 3.9 ± 0.14 days, respectively. Diabrotica virgifera recover from 2 days of starvation or poor diet if subsequently given access to corn tissues for 2 days. Eggs were laid within 1 day of access to poor diet or starvation. Other D. virgifera, captured as they flew from a cornfield into a soybean field, were maintained on soybean foliage or only water until they died. Of the beetles with access to soybean foliage, 24% fed within 24 h after capture and survived 1 day longer than insects given only water. Only 20% of these D. virgifera were able to lay eggs without consuming additional corn prior to death. Few D. virgifera enter soybean fields capable of immediate oviposition. Female reproductive status and diet quality influence the likelihood of oviposition following exposure to stress. The effects of soybean herbivory may contribute to the proximate mechanism of resistance to crop rotation.

Anthropogenic increase in carbon dioxide compromises plant defense against invasive insects

“…Although WCR normally causes economic injury by damaging roots of corn (Zea mays), a variant of WCR feeds on soybean foliage and lays eggs in soybean fields (17). The Japanese beetle (JB; Popillia japonica Newman: Coleoptera), a broadly polyphagous species introduced into the United States in 1916 and now expanding its range throughout the Midwest, feeds on Ϸ300 species of wild and cultivated plants in 79 families; soybeans are among its many host plants (18).…”

Effect of Soybean Varieties on Survival and Fecundity of Western Corn Rootworm

“…1 and 2). Mabry and Spencer (2003) found that adult D. v. virgifera could recover from 2 d of feeding on soybean foliage if insects then were fed corn. Rotation-resistant populations have been characterized as being more active than rotation-susceptible populations, which may increase the likelihood of dispersal to and from cornÞelds (Knolhoff et al 2006).…”

Emerging issues in Integrated Pest Management Implementation and Adoption in the North Central USA

“…Thus, crop rotation is generally a very effective way of protecting corn from the rootworm complex. However, the western corn rootworm developed rotation resistance in east central Illinois in the 1990s (Levine et al 2002;Gray et al 2009;Miller et al 2009), apparently through a loss in fidelity to cornfields for oviposition (Mabry and Spencer 2003). Rotation resistance subsequently spread to parts of surrounding states before stalling out in the mid 2000s ).…”