Volunteer transgenic corn creates challenges for management of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte

Genetically-modified corn and soybean dominate the North American agricultural landscape and are becoming increasingly important as biofuels. However, as more traits are expressed by single plants, herbicide-tolerant volunteer corn is becoming a widespread problem as a weed in corn-soybean rotational systems. We show that these volunteer corn plants not only have herbicide-tolerance genes but also express the insecticidal “Bt” trait. We also report high levels of damage to these insecticidal plants from larvae of the target pest, the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera) LeConte. The implications of volunteer herbicide-tolerant Bt corn in maintaining the durability of Bt traits in this system is discussed.