Abstract
Publisher Summary Cultivated sunflowers have conspicuous heads, abundant pollen and nectar, and are grown together in large plots, all of which contribute to the attractiveness of sunflowers to insects. The most identifiable beneficial insects in sunflowers are bees, which improve sunflower yields by increasing pollination, even for some hybrids considered to be self-fertile. Sunflowers also attract an astounding diversity of herbivorous insects. However, crop losses and management challenges with insect pests are most severe in the native range of sunflowers. In addition to the concentration of host plants, morphological and chemical changes produced by domestication of sunflower appear to make the crop more susceptible to insect damage than wild sunflowers. This chapter provides updated information on the biology and management of a few key pests of oilseed sunflowers in North America. It also discusses the costs of insect pests, sunflower insects in other settings, e.g., outside of North America, in non-oilseed sunflowers, and the potential for breeding to reduce costs associated with sunflower insects.
Published Version
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