Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T17:36:20.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diapause initiation and incidence in the millet stem borer, Coniesta ignefusalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): the role of the host plant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

P.B. Tanzubil ,
G.W.K. Mensah  and
A.R. McCaffery
P.B. Tanzubil
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AJ, UK
G.W.K. Mensah
Affiliation:
University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana
A.R. McCaffery
Affiliation:
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AJ, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The role of the host plant in the development of larval diapause in the millet stem borer, Coniesta ignefusalis (Hampson) was investigated in northern Ghana in 1996 and 1997. Surveys conducted in farmers' fields in the Guinea and Sudan savannah revealed that of all the upland cereals grown, the insect survived the dry season only in stalks and stubble of pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum and late sorghum, Sorghum bicolor. This observation was confirmed by results from field trials conducted at the Manga Research Station. In these studies, C. ignefusalis larvae entered diapause only in late millet and late sorghum, with a higher incidence in the former. The insect neither attacked nor entered diapause in maize planted during the same period as the other crops. Results from controlled experiments showed that diapause incidence in the preferred host, millet, was higher in older than in younger plants, suggesting that host plant maturation is a key factor influencing the development of larval diapause in C. ignefusalis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 90 , Issue 4 , August 2000 , pp. 365 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ajayi, O. (1990) Possibilities for integrated control of the millet stem borer, Acigona ignefusalis, Hampson (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Nigeria. Insect Science and its Application 11, 109–117.Google Scholar
Andow, D.A. (1991) Vegetational diversity and arthropod population response. Annual Review of Entomology 36, 561–586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, S.D. (1965) Resistance of plants to insects. Annual Review of Entomology 10, 207–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosque-Perez, N.A. & Mareck, J.H. (1990) Distribution and species composition of lepidopterous maize borers in southern Nigeria. Bulletin of Entomological Research 80, 363–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brady, M.F. (1995) Reproductive seasonality in tropical satyrine butterflies: strategies for the dry season. Ecological Entomology 20, 5–17.Google Scholar
Bull, D.L. & Adkisson, P.L. (1960) Certain factors influencing diapause in the pink boll Pectinophora gossypiella. Journal of Economic Entomology 53, 793–798.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denlinger, D.L. (1986) Dormancy in tropical insects. Annual Review of Entomology 31, 239–264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gahukar, R.T. (1990) Population ecology of Acigona ignefusalis in Senegal. Environmental Entomology 19, 558–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, K.M. (1962) Lepidopterous stem borers of cereal crops in Nigeria. Bulletin of Entomological Research 53, 139–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kfir, R. (1990) Prospects for cultural control of the stalk borers, Chilo partellus and Busseola fusca in summer grain crops in South Africa. Journal of the Entomological Society of South Africa 53, 41–47.Google Scholar
Meijerman, L. & Ulenberg, S.A. (1996) Identification of African stem borer larvae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Pyralidae) based on morphology. Bulletin of Entomological Research 86, 567–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nwanze, K.F. (1989) Insect pests of millet in sahelian West Africa 1: Acigona ignefusalis: distribution, population dynamics and assessment of crop damage. Tropical Pest Management 35, 137–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheltes, P. (1978) The condition of the host plant during aestivation-diapause of the stalk borers Chilo partellus and Chilo orichalcociliella in Kenya. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 24, 479–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Usua, E.J. (1973) Induction of diapause in the maize stalk borer, Busseola fusca. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 16, 322–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Emden, H.F. & Way, M.J. (1973) Host plants in the population dynamics of insects. pp. 181–200in van Emden, H.F. (Ed.) Insect plant interactions. Royal Entomological Society Symposium, London.Google Scholar
Visser, J.H. (1986) Host odour perception in phytophagous insects. Annual Review of Entomology 31, 121–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Youm, O. (1990) Evaluation of natural enemies associated with the millet stem borer (Haimbachia ignefusalis) (Hmpn) (Lep: Pyralidae) in Niger. 145 pp. PhD dissertation, Texas A & M University, College station, Texas, USA.Google Scholar