Project Number: 6402-22000-045-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Sep 01, 2005
End Date: Aug 31, 2010

Objective:
a) Identify and characterize new sources of maize, soybean, and sweetpotato resistance to insects, e.g. corn earworm, stink bug, and sugarcane beetle. Genetic studies will be conducted using inbred lines derived from two backcross populations of maize that are resistant to silk-feeding corn earworm. A stink bug trap crop will be designed that will produce high populations of the pest to evaluate soybean germplasm for resistance. Field studies will be conducted to collect and identify damaging soil insects of sweetpotato in the Lower Mississippi Delta and sweetpotato germplasm will be screened for resistance to these pests. b) Develop and enhance biological control strategies for suppression of plantbugs and stink bugs in area-wide pest control systems for southern row crops. Experiments will be conducted in the laboratory, greenhouse, and field to determine the effect of herbivore-induced volatiles on the behavior and life history of natural enemies of tarnished plant bug and stink bugs. Field exploration for new egg and nymphal parasitoids of plant bugs and stink bugs will be conducted. c) Improve and continue to evaluate an area-wide pest management system for control of tarnished plant bugs in cotton. The research project has demonstrated that a single, March application of a broadleaf herbicide in cotton field margins enclosed in 9 mi2 areas will suppress tarnished plant bug populations during the crop¿s growing season. Research will be conducted to determine the optimal and minimal-effective sizes for the area-wide program and to determine the economic and environmental costs and benefits of this program. d)Comparison of tarnished plant bug and stink bug injury to cotton and comparison of various sampling methods to predict yield losses from these insects in flowering cotton. Field experiments will be conducted to develop accurate sampling methods for tarnished plant bugs and stink bugs in flowering cotton. Additionally, injury potential of these insects will be determined on cotton to refine current thresholds or develop new thresholds based on those sampling methods.

Approach:
a) Identify and characterize new sources of maize, soybean, and sweetpotato resistance to insects, e.g. corn earworm, stink bug, and sugarcane beetle. b) Develop and enhance biological control strategies for suppression of plant bugs and stink bugs in area-wide pest control systems for southern row crops. c) Improve and continue to evaluate an area-wide pest management system for control of tarnished plant bugs in cotton. d) Impact of tarnished plant bugs and stink bugs on cotton yields and comparison of various sampling methods to predict yield losses from these insects in flowering cotton.