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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sunflower and Plant Biology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #209478
Title: Optimizing insecticide strategies for control of banded sunflower moth in North Dakota

Author
item KNODEL, JANET - NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV
item Charlet, Laurence
item HUTTER, MIKE - NORTHERN AG MGMT,WESTHOPE

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/13/2007
Publication Date: 3/13/2007
Citation: Knodel, J.J., Charlet, L.D., Hutter, M. 2007. Optimizing insecticide strategies for control of banded sunflower moth in North Dakota. 29th Sunflower Research Workshop, January 10-11, 2007, Fargo, ND. Available: http://www.sunflowernsa.com/research/research-workshop/documents/Knodel_Banded_07.pdf

Interpretive Summary: The banded sunflower moth has been a consistent pest of sunflower in the northern Plains. Adults congregate in field margins on weeds or adjacent crops during the day and move into the crop in the evening. Eggs are deposited on the bracts of the head and larvae feed in the florets, developing seed, and also destroy mature seeds. The primary management strategy for control of the moth has been the use of insecticides. There are several parasitoid species attacking the banded sunflower moth. Understanding the population dynamics of the pest and its natural enemies will provide valuable information that could improve control of this pest in cultivated sunflower. Our goal was to investigate the integration of management strategies to reduce input costs and overall feeding injury caused by the banded sunflower moth in commercial oilseed sunflower. We evaluated the effectiveness of treating only margins of sunflower fields in reducing economic losses and determined the impacts of the landscape and the parasitoid complex on populations of banded sunflower moth. Edge spraying was determined to be effective in controlling banded sunflower moth because populations of moth larvae are usually concentrated in field edges. A positive linear relationship was established between the number of moth larvae emerging from heads and subsequent damaged seed. The presence of its host plant 'sunflower' in adjacent fields had a diluting effect on field densities of banded sunflower moth. In contrast, when sunflower was not present in adjacent fields, it has a concentrating effect with higher densities of moths in that sunflower field. Sixty-one percent of the banded sunflower moth reared was parasitized by two major species of parasitoids. Parasitism rates were negatively impacted by insecticide spraying in field edges. Parasitoids were effective in searching and foraging from field edges to 40 m into the field and were not dependant on the presence of sunflower in the landscape.

Technical Abstract: The banded sunflower moth has been a consistent pest of sunflower in the northern Plains. Adults congregate in field margins on weeds or adjacent crops during the day and move into the crop in the evening. Eggs are deposited on the bracts of the head and larvae feed in the florets, developing seed, and also destroy mature seeds. The primary management strategy for control of the moth has been the use of insecticides. There are several parasitoid species attacking the banded sunflower moth. Understanding the population dynamics of the pest and its natural enemies will provide valuable information that could improve control of this pest in cultivated sunflower. Our goal was to investigate the integration of management strategies to reduce input costs and overall feeding injury caused by the banded sunflower moth in commercial oilseed sunflower. We evaluated the effectiveness of treating only margins of sunflower fields in reducing economic losses and determined the impacts of the landscape and the parasitoid complex on populations of banded sunflower moth. Edge spraying was determined to be effective in controlling banded sunflower moth because populations of moth larvae are usually concentrated in field edges. A positive linear relationship was established between the number of moth larvae emerging from heads and subsequent damaged seed. The presence of its host plant 'sunflower' in adjacent fields had a diluting effect on field densities of banded sunflower moth. In contrast, when sunflower was not present in adjacent fields, it has a concentrating effect with higher densities of moths in that sunflower field. Sixty-one percent of the banded sunflower moth reared was parasitized by two major species of parasitoids. Parasitism rates were negatively impacted by insecticide spraying in field edges. Parasitoids were effective in searching and foraging from field edges to 40 m into the field and were not dependant on the presence of sunflower in the landscape.