Robert Bowling, robert.bowling@pioneer.com, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc, 501 Pine Avenue, Dumas, TX, Roxanne Bowling, rabowling@ag.tamu.edu, Texas A&M University Agricultural Experiment Station, Entomology, TAES, 2301 Experiment Station Road, Bushland, TX, Clint Quintana, Texas A&M University, 310 E. 1st Street, Dumas, TX, and Bonnie B. Pendleton, bpendleton@mail.wtamu.edu, West Texas A&M University, Division of Agriculture, P.O. Box 60998, Canyon, TX.
Response by fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), corn earworm (CEW), Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and western bean cutworm (WBC), Richia albicosta (Smith), presented Pioneer’s transgenic corn event TC1507 (Herculex® I) was assessed in replicated small plots in the field. The Davis scale (0-9) was used to assess damage by FAW to foliage. Damage by larvae feeding on Herculex I plants was compared with that on non-Bt plants. Damage by first, second, third and fourth instar FAW on transgenic plants was reduced by 87, 52, 33, and 27% compared with damage to non-Bt corn. Natural populations of CEW and WBC on ears of Herculex I and non-Bt corn were determined by counting the number of each species on corn ears. There were 58% fewer larvae of both species on ears of Herculex I corn than on ears of non-Bt corn. Specifically, abundance of CEW and WBC on ears of Herculex I corn was 71 and 47% less than on ears of non-Bt corn. Results indicate that the Herculex I event suppresses a broader spectrum of lepidopteran species compared with other commercially available corn events.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Noctuidae
Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm)
Species 2: Lepidoptera Noctuidae
Richia albicosta (western bean cutworm)
Species 3: Lepidoptera Noctuidae
Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm)
Keywords: Bt corn
