Mating Success, Longevity, and Fertility of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) in Relation to Body Size and Cry3Bb1-Resistant and Cry3Bb1-Susceptible Genotypes.

Insect resistance to population control methodologies is a widespread problem. The development of effective resistance management programs is often dependent on detailed knowledge regarding the biology of individual species and changes in that biology associated with resistance evolution. This study examined the reproductive behavior and biology of western corn rootworm beetles of known body size from lines resistant and susceptible to the Cry3Bb1 protein toxin expressed in transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis maize. In crosses between, and within, the resistant and susceptible genotypes, no differences occurred in mating frequency, copulation duration, courtship duration, or fertility; however, females mated with resistant males showed reduced longevity. Body size did not vary with genotype. Larger males and females were not more likely to mate than smaller males and females, but larger females laid more eggs. Moderately strong, positive correlation occurred between the body sizes of successfully mated males and females; however, weak correlation also existed for pairs that did not mate. Our study provided only limited evidence for fitness costs associated with the Cry3Bb1-resistant genotype that might reduce the persistence in populations of the resistant genotype but provided additional evidence for size-based, assortative mating, which could favor the persistence of resistant genotypes affecting body size.

Phenology and abundance of bean leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in eastern South Dakota on alfalfa and soybean relative to tillage, fertilization, and yield.

Phenology and abundance of bean leaf beetles, Cerotoma trifurcata (Förster), were examined throughout two eastern South Dakota growing seasons in relation to grain yields in chisel- and ridge-tilled soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] grown in 2-yr rotation with corn (Zea mays L.) with and without added nitrogen (N). Populations were also sampled early and late season in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Beetles were present in alfalfa by late May and most were reproductively active within a week, but their presence in alfalfa did not always precede soybean emergence. Most beetles taken from alfalfa in late fall were teneral; all were previtellogenic and unmated. Reproductively active beetles were detected in soybeans as soon as seedlings emerged. A partial second generation apparently occurred each year. First-generation beetles started to emerge in soybean fields during the first or third week of July but, whether emergence started early or late, most beetles emerging after July seemingly failed to mature their eggs and started leaving soybeans within several weeks of eclosion. This pattern suggested that any second generation arose from only the earliest emerging beetles of the first generation, with later emerging individuals having to overwinter before reproducing. Thus, any factors delaying emergence of the first generation, such as delayed soybean planting, could potentially limit its reproductive capacity through winter mortality. Cumulative seasonal beetle counts were lower in N-treated subplots and in ridge-tilled compared with chisel-tilled plots. Soybean grain yield increased with decreases in peak abundance of first-generation beetles and with N fertilization.

Field capture of northern and western corn rootworm beetles relative to attractant structure and volatility.

We used field assays to study attraction of feral northern and western corn rootworm beetles (Diabrotica barberi and D. virgifera virgifera) to a series of mostly nitrogenous and benzenoid synthetic compounds allied with host plant and floral aromas. Vaporization rates were obtained for most field-tested compounds and selected additional lures under both ideal and field-representative, but constant, conditions. Although many test compounds showed at least trace activity for one or both species, methyl benzoate and some of its derivatives, notably methyl anthranilate and methyl 4-methoxybenzoate, merited emphasis as effective new lures for females. Structural alteration of methyl benzoate had consistently negative effects on northern corn rootworm captures despite variable effects on release rate, whereas western corn rootworm was more strongly attracted to methyl anthranilate and methyl 4-methoxybenzoate than to the considerably more volatile parent compound. Phenylacetaldoxime was attractive to females of both species, but no more so than syn-benzaldoxime, included as reference. Release rate was disproportionately low for benzaldoxime, as well as other nitrogenous lures, under field compared with ideal conditions. The attractiveness of salicylaldoxime to northern corn rootworm, despite its low field release rate, and the unattractiveness of methyl salicylate, having a methyl ester in place of the oxime group, similarly highlighted importance of the oxime moiety for reactivity of this species.

Larval sampling and instar determination in field populations of northern and western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

Abundance and head capsule width were measured for northern (Diabrotica barberi Smith & Lawrence) and western corn rootworm (D. virgifera virgifera LeConte) larvae recovered primarily from maize root systems but also from large soil cores each centered around a root system. Larvae for measurement derived from field populations under infestation and rotation regimes that allowed most specimens to be assigned to species. A frequency distribution of head capsule widths indicated three separate peaks for western corn rootworm, presumably representing frequency of the three larval instars, with no larvae measuring 280 or 420 microm in the valleys between peaks. Multiple normal curves fit to similar but partially overlapping peaks generated by northern corn rootworm suggested that division of first to second and second to third instar can best be made for this species at 267 and 406 microm, respectively (270 and 410 when measurements are made to the nearest 20 microm). These results implied that instar of individuals from mixed northern and western corn rootworm populations can be accurately judged from head capsule width without having to determine species. The relative abundance of western corn rootworm instars was similar in root systems removed from the center of 19-cm diameter x 19-cm deep soil cores and in soil cores from which the root systems were removed. Furthermore, the number of larvae from root systems correlated significantly with that from the surrounding soil. These results indicated that the former and much more convenient sampling unit can be used to estimate population developmental stage and possibly density, at least early in the season when these tests were done and young larvae predominated.