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Research Project: Innovative Technologies to Control Invasive Species that Impact Livestock

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Title: A relative resistance Ratio for Evaluation of Stem Borer Susceptibility Among Sugarcane Cultivars

Author
item WILSON, BLAKE - Louisana State University
item VANWEELDEN, MATHEW - Louisiana State University
item BRUZELIN, JULIEN - Louisiana State University
item REAGAN, THOMAS - Louisiana State University
item WAY, MICHAEL - Texas A&M Agrilife
item White, William
item WILSON, LOYD - Texas A&M Agrilife
item Showler, Allan

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/17/2015
Publication Date: 4/20/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/62268
Citation: Wilson, B.E., Vanweelden, M.T., Bruzelin, J.M., Reagan, T.E., Way, M.O., White, W.H., Wilson, L.T., Showler, A. 2015. A relative resistance Ratio for Evaluation of Stem Borer Susceptibility Among Sugarcane Cultivars. Journal of Economic Entomology. 108(3):1363-1370.

Interpretive Summary: The Mexican rice borer is a serious pest of sugarcane in Louisiana and Texas. Varietal resistance to the Mexican rice borer was evaluated in commercial and experimental sugarcane cultivars. A relative resistance ratio was developed to separate 50 cultivars into five resistance categories, from resistant to highly susceptible.

Technical Abstract: The Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar), is a major pest of sugarcane in Louisiana and Texas. Cultivar resistance to E. loftini was evaluated in commercial and experimental sugarcane cultivars in four replicated field studies between 2009 and 2012. A relative resistance ratio was developed to compare levels of susceptibility among cultivars based on the percentage of bored internodes and survival to adulthood. This index consistently separated cultivars into five resistance categories and provides a new method for comparing levels of resistance among a large number of cultivars. Resistance levels are provided herein for 50 cultivars of sugarcane. Eoreuma loftini pest pressure in 2009 was among the highest recorded with injury ranging from 54–88% bored internodes. Commercial cultivar HoCP 85-845 was identified as resistant in three of four experiments, while HoCP 04-838 was identified as susceptible in all experiments. Of the five cultivars in commercial production in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley which were evaluated, only TCP 87-3388 was categorized as resistant. Continued evaluation of cultivar resistance to E. loftini will be critical to development of effective IPM strategies to control this pest.