Southwestern corn borer (SWCB), Diatraea grandiosella (Dyar), was reared in the laboratory on meridic diet containing rubidium chloride (RbCl) and cesium chloride (CsCl) at the rate of 1000- ppm to mark insects with rubidium and cesium as markers to use in mark recapture-experiments. Diet was prepared for three treatments: RbCl, CsCl, and untreated control. The experiment consisted of three cohorts of SWCB per treatment (30 / cohort). Individual SWCB neonates were placed on cubes of diet in 2 oz (59 ml) plastic rearing cups and monitored through moth eclosion for any effects of RbCl or CsCl treatment. The following parameters were measured: diet consumption, larval weight, larval period, pupation rate, pupal weight, pupal period, moth eclosion, survival, moth deformity, and dry weight of the moths. There were no statistically significant effects of RbCl or CsCl on any of the measured parameters. Rubidum and cesium were detected successfully in SWCB male and female moths using a Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and Neutron Activation Analysis. Rubidium and cesium content measured in the marked moths was high enough to separate them from unmarked moths. Both elements were found to be effective physiological markers for SWCB in mark-recapture experiments.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Crambidae Diatraea grandiosella (Southwestern corn borer)
Keywords: Resistance management, Dispersal
Back to Student Competition Ten-Minute Papers, Section F. Crop Protection Entomology
Back to Student Competition 10-minute Paper
Back to The 2002 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition