Damage and Yield Loss Induced by Stalk Borer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Field Corn

Abstract

Injury by stalk borer, Papaipema nebris (Guenee), to two- to four-leaf stage field corn, Zea mays (L.), was studied to characterize plant damage and subsequent yield loss. Damage was categorized as uninfected (no damage), leaf-feeding, or dead heart (whorl death). Tissue yields of stalk, grain, and cob, and total dry weights were monitored. Yields of plants sustaining leaf-feeding damage alone were not significantly different from yields of uninfected plants. Plants with dead-heart damage, however, had significantly reduced yields compared to other plants for all yield parameters except stalk dry weight. In addition, plants experiencing dead-heart damage often were either barren or produced ears containing scattered kernels of grain, similar to corn plants having incomplete pollination. In the absence of mortality, yield compensation by healthy plants growing near damaged plants was not observed.