Cultivation of resistant soybean varieties and application of silicon (Si) on biology of Euschistus heros (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

Seed-sucking insects are economically important pests affecting soybean in Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of chemical inducers on insect resistance in soybean on the neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros (F.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) using varying levels of inherent resistance in soybean. Seedpods from of the soybean varieties ‘IAC 100’ and ‘IAC 17’ (antibiosis resistant and non-preference resistant varieties, respectively), ‘Conquista’ (moderately resistant), and ‘Jatai’ (susceptible) that had been treated with one of several inducers, or untreated, were evaluated in choice- and no-choice tests. In addition to analyses of feeding preference, effects of the treatments on the development of E. heros were also studied. The nonpreference and antibiosis resistances of varieties ‘IAC 17’ and ‘IAC 100’ were observed when plants of these varieties treated with resistance inducers were fed to E. heros. Potassium silicate, calcium magnesium silicate, and acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) inducers were found to have a synergistic effect on the resistance of ‘IAC 17’ and ‘IAC 100’ to E. heros. These soybean varieties can be directly used by farmers or associated with silicon application to prevent damage caused by E. heros.