As a follow-up to phermone trap sampling for the Mexican Rice Borer (MRB), Eureuma loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) adjacent to sugarcane fields in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana in 2000, studies were undertaken in the summer and fall of 2001 to define the insect's present range. Management studies involving varietal resistance and insecticide approaches were assessed utilizing twice weekly monitoring of phermone traps in 14 Texas counties and seven Louisiana parishes. Newly discovered MRB locations were in Austin, Brazoria, Colorado, Fort Bend, Harris, Waller and Wharton counties in Texas. The insect is not known to occur in Louisiana, but are relatively high populations within 50-60 miles of the new sugarcane production area near Beaumont, TX. In addition to phermone trap assessment, larval infestations have been discovered in some newly invaded areas. Replicated variety assessment to determine relative MRB resistance of rice and sugarcane has shown at least 4.5-fold differences in susceptibility among selected commercially available varieties.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Crambidae Eoreuma loftini (Mexican rice borer)
Keywords: insecticides, host plant resistance
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA