Development of Sparganothis sulfureana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on Cranberry Cultivars.

Erin E Mcmahan,Christelle Guédot

doi:10.3390/insects9010004

Abstract

Sparganothis fruitworm (Sparganothis sulfureana Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a serious pest of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton), a native North American fruit cultivated in northern regions of the United States and southeastern Canada. This study assessed antibiosis in several cranberry cultivars commonly grown in Wisconsin. Five cultivars previously shown to host different levels of populations of S. sulfureana in commercial cranberry were assessed in this study to evaluate the performance of S. sulfureana amongst these cultivars. We measured growth and time to developmental stages of newly emerged larvae to adulthood on selected cranberry cultivars in the laboratory. There was no difference in the rates of survival to pupation and to adult emergence among any of the cultivars tested. Mid-instar larvae that fed on the cultivar ‘Ben Lear’ were heavier than those feeding on ‘GH-1’, ‘Stevens’, or ‘HyRed’, and larvae that fed on ‘Mullica Queen’ were heavier than those feeding on ‘HyRed’. However, there were no significant differences in pupal weights or in the number of days from neonate to adult emergence among varieties. Therefore, this study did not provide evidence of antibiosis among the cultivars tested, and found that larval weight was not correlated with other measurements of performance.

Highlights

An essential part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the strategy of host plant resistance (HPR), by which growers plant crop cultivars with heritable properties that protect them against damage from insects, fungi, and pathogens [1]
Cranberry is a wetland plant, and its cultivation depends on flooding several times per year, so commercial marshes are often embedded in natural wetlands that can be disrupted by pesticides and fertilizers [8]
We provide the first evidence that among the major cranberry cultivars grown in the state of Wisconsin, there are no significant differences in S. sulfureana performance in a laboratory setting

Summary

Introduction

An essential part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the strategy of host plant resistance (HPR), by which growers plant crop cultivars with heritable properties that protect them against damage from insects, fungi, and pathogens [1]. Resistant cultivars of many crops worldwide have been used to reduce damaging insect populations [2]. Laboratory assays measuring the growth rate and survival of insects on different plant cultivars are often used to determine whether antibiosis is responsible for resistance. These assays have been used to find cultivars of cotton [3], corn [4,5], and numerous other crops that exhibit resistance towards insect pests. Cranberry is a wetland plant, and its cultivation depends on flooding several times per year, so commercial marshes are often embedded in natural wetlands that can be disrupted by pesticides and fertilizers [8]

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