Corn rootworm rearing methodologies
1989
Campbell, J.E. (Pioner Hi-Bred International, Johnston, IA (USA)) | Jackson, J.J. (USDA Agricultural Research Service, Brookings, SD (USA))
Efforts to identify and study resistance in maize to corn rootworms (Diabrotica sp.) have been stimulated by the development of techniques to artificially infest field plots with predetermined densities of eggs. The expanding use of this technology has progressively increased the demand for rootworm eggs. Rootworm eggs are currently obtained by collecting eggs from adults that are either collected from maize fields or reared in the laboratory. Trap-crop plantings, especially interplantings of maize and Cucurbita sp., have enhanced the success of adult collection. For some research groups this method has proved adequate for producing 10 to 30 million eggs each year. However, year-to-year variation in the quality of adults and quantity of eggs they produce has been a problem for long-term research projects. Eggs produced from laboratory-reared adults are more expensive to produce, but there are several advantages to this type of production, foremost being the capability of producing a consistently large number of high quality eggs each year. Methods used to obtain rootworms eggs by collecting adults from natural populations and rearing adults in the laboratory are presented. Methods presented for producing adults and collecting eggs in the laboratory were used in 1986 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Northern Grain Insects Research Laboratory to produce over 117 million western corn rootworm eggs. These methods are also adaptable for several other Diabrotica species.
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