The first report of Blissus occiduus Barber causing significant injury to zoysiagrass, Zoysia japonica Steudel, occurred in southeast Nebraska during the summer of 2000. Previously, the documented host range of this chinch bug had included corn, Zea mays L., sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum L., wheat, Tritium aestivum L., barley, Hordeum spp L., brome, Bromus spp. Leyss., and buffalograss, Buchloë dactyloides (Nuttall) Engelmann,. Possible additional hosts of B. occiduus include Kentucky bluegrass, Poa pratensis L., perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne L., yellow bristlegrass, Seteria glanca (L.) Beauv. and prairie sand reed grass, Calamovilfa longifolia (Hook.) Scribner. Our research identified several additional turfgrass species and cultivars that warranted further investigation. In laboratory experiments, the zoysiagrass cultivar ‘El Torro’ was moderately susceptible to B. occiduus feeding, but produced only low numbers of chinch bug offspring. Concurrent field observations, however, documented the high susceptibility of the zoysiagrass cultivar ‘Meyer’ to B. occiduus feeding and reproduction. This suggested the presence of chinch bug resistance in certain zoysiagrass cultivars. Similarly, the bermudagrass Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., cultivar ‘Tifway’ was moderately susceptible to B. occiduus feeding in laboratory experiments, but supported no chinch bug reproduction. This suggested the presence of antibiotic resistance. This research, in a series of no-choice studies conducted in the greenhouse, identified zoysiagrass and bermudagrass cultivars with resistance to B. occiduus .
Species 1: Heteroptera Lygaeidae Blissus occiduus
Keywords: Zoysiagrass, bermudagrass
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