Project Number: 6217-22000-013-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Apr 07, 2005
End Date: Apr 06, 2010

Objective:
Improve integrated pest management (IPM) practices for cereal aphids in wheat, sorghum, and barley in the United States by developing knowledge and tools to enhance the role of host plant resistance and natural enemies in crop management strategies. This will involve: (1) developing fundamental knowledge of the biology and ecology of cereal aphids; (2) developing an understanding of how aphid biotypic variation is generated and maintained; (3) determining the population breeding structure of cereal aphids in North America and its relationship to evolutionary/genetic basis for aphid biotypes; and (4) developing principles, techniques, and decision support tools for managing cereal aphids and their natural enemies.

Approach:
Field and laboratory experiments will be conducted to: (1) characterize the biotypic composition of greenbug populations occurring on non-cultivated hosts; (2) assess the role of grass species associated with cereal cropping systems in harboring pest aphids and their natural enemies; (3) monitor and characterize the biotypic structure of Russian wheat aphid populations on cultivated and non-cultivated hosts; (4) characterize holocyclic reproduction in the Russian wheat aphid and its role in biotype evolution; (5) determine the degree of genetic variation and the breeding structure of the Russian wheat aphid populations in the United States; (6) determine the genome size and organizational complexity of the Russian wheat aphid; (7) develop and test a natural enemy threshold for Coccinellidae against the greenbug in winter wheat; (8) develop airborne multi-spectral remote sensing techniques for monitoring greenbug infestations in wheat; and (9) develop computer programs to deliver pest management programs.