Oviposition preference by the sugarcane borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
1990
Sosa, O. Jr
Oviposition preference by the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), on several hosts was compared. The sugarcane borer laid significantly more eggs (78%) on four sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) clones than on corn (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), rice (Oryza sativa L.), or wax paper (22%). More eggs were laid on the leaf surfaces of glabrous sugarcane clones than on a pubescent clone. Although fewer eggs were laid on the leaf surfaces of pubescent clones, oviposition on the midribs (devoid of trichomes) was increased compared with oviposition on the midrib of glabrous clones; this result indicated also that moths avoided pubescent surfaces for oviposition. Overall, the glabrous clones received >2.5 times the number of eggs than the pubescent clone. A commercial sugarcane clone with pubescence might therefore be more resistant to the sugarcane borer than the glabrous clones that are currently grown.
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