Using resistant hosts demonstrates that Bt cotton expressing Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab has no negative effects on Geocoris punctipes

The bigeyed bug, Geocoris punctipes, is an abundant predator in many cropping systems. Its nymphs and adults are active predators that attack a wide variety of pests, including aphids, soft-bodied insect larvae, and insect eggs in cotton, soybean and other crops. Thus, G. punctipes may be exposed by multiple routes to insecticidal proteins expressed in genetically engineered crops producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). We evaluated the potential impact of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab expressing cotton (BollGard II) on several fitness parameters of G. punctipes over two generations using Bt-resistant Trichoplusia ni larvae as prey. Duration of the nymphal stage, adult weight, female fecundity and egg hatching rate of G. punctipes were not different when they were fed resistant T. ni larvae reared on either Bt or control cotton leaves for both generations. Our results demonstrate that Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab expressing cotton does not affect important fitness parameters of G. punctipes.