Rt. Bessin et Te. Reagan, CULTIVAR RESISTANCE AND ARTHROPOD PREDATION OF SUGARCANE BORER (LEPIDOPTERA, PYRALIDAE) AFFECTS INCIDENCE OF DEADHEARTS IN LOUISIANA SUGARCANE, Journal of economic entomology, 86(3), 1993, pp. 929-932
A 3-yr study on overwintering populations of the sugarcane borer, Diat
raea saccharalis (F.), showed cultivar resistance provided significant
reductions in numbers of sugarcane, a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp
., deadhearts in the spring of 1986 and 1987. Although differences in
infestation levels of D. saccharalis caused by arthropod predation wer
e not detected in the fall, significantly greater numbers of deadheart
s occurred in the spring where predators were suppressed. The red impo
rted fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), was
the dominant predator in these studies. Incorporating a covariable re
presenting the number of larvae infesting sugarcane stalks in the fall
did not adequately account for the variation in sugarcane shoots with
deadhearts. Results from this study indicate that, in addition to the
anticipated effect of cultivar resistance and predation on the stalk
damage caused by D. saccharalis during the growing season, substantial
reductions in the incidence of spring deadhearts can also be expected
. The effect of-cultivar resistance and arthropod predation of D. sacc
haralis on deadhearts is additive.