Greenhouse and field cage studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of sweet corn pollen and corn leaf aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis) on predation of European corn borer eggs by the generalist predators Coleomegilla maculata, Harmonia axyridis, and Orius insidiosus. The presence of these alternative foods on sweet corn plants resulted in decreased egg predation by all species. However the amount of reduced predation was not the same for all the predator species. There were also significant differences in the impact of the alternative foods between the immature and adult stages of these predators. As these two food resources and three predators are common in New York sweet corn fields, the results of these studies will enable predictions of egg predation to be more reliably included in the decision-making process. However, because the impacts vary by species and maturity, effective utilization of predators for biological control in an integrated management system will require field monitoring for predator populations as well as the pest populations.
Species 1: Coleoptera Coccinellidae Coleomegilla maculata
Species 2: Coleoptera Coccinellidae Harmonia axyridis (multicolored Asian lady beetle)
Species 3: Hemiptera Anthocoridae Orius insidiosus (insidious flower bug)
Keywords: natural enemies, Ostrinia nubilalis
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA