7/25/2023 0 Comments Stem and leaf generatorThe definition of the stem and leaf plot is: Other researchers working on the trial were Dr Myron Zalucki and Dr Michael Furlong.Stem and leaf plot – Explanation & Examples This method allows us to judge what plant species are really at risk to adequately prepare farmers for when new pests arrive.” “It is important to examine the preference of moths and the behaviour of caterpillars using whole plants. The results have led the team to suggest that maize and sorghum are host plants, whereas pigeon pea, peanut, and cotton are food plants. Sorghum hosted the most pupated caterpillars, cotton the least. They also attached egg masses to the plants in the glasshouse and studied development of the caterpillars.Īfter five days there were most survivors on maize and the least on cotton. In the egg-laying experiment, they found that FAW laid significantly more eggs on glasshouse-grown maize than on any of the other four crops. To investigate host preference, the team performed experiments on moth egg-laying and caterpillar-feeding behaviour on maize, sorghum, peanut, cotton and pigeon pea. “We have seen numerous cases of this in Australia now – populations establishing on corn or sorghum, then crawling to infest a nearby broadleaf crop.” “Therefore, they are not truly host plants. “Many of the plant species listed as host plants are damaged in this second mode but might not host populations through the insect’s whole life cycle. “Secondly there’s an ‘armyworm’ mode, where the moth lays eggs on grasses and then large caterpillars switch to feeding on other crops. “Firstly there is the ‘defoliator’ mode, where the moth lay eggs on a crop and the larvae hatch, feed, and develop on the plant. The researchers believe FAW have two feeding modes. “Understanding these details are incredibly important if the plant species is a crop, because they determine whether the crop is at risk from yield loss due to the pest.” “These records from overseas provide little detail about whether the plant species is preferred by the moth or if caterpillar infestations can actually establish well on the plant. “Many of the reported host plant records consist of a caterpillar being collected from a plant, and that plant is then recorded as a ‘host.’ Newer chemicals are expensive and only work well with good spray coverage and timing. It is resistant to most of the older chemical pesticides and is proving very difficult to manage, resulting in crop failures. In this time, it has caused significant damage to production industries, in particular maize, popcorn, and sweetcorn, but impacts to other crops such as sorghum, as well as pastures have also been observed. This causes major damage to economically important cultivated grasses such as maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane and wheat and also vegetable crops and cotton.Ī native to the North and South Americas, FAW was first reported in Australia in January 2020 in the Torres Strait and by the end of the year had spread to New South Wales and northern Victoria. Photo: QDAFĪccording to Plant Health Australia, fall armyworm, or Spodoptera frugiperda, is a moth pest that feeds in large numbers on the leaves, stems and reproductive parts of more than 350 plant species. A fall armyworm chews through a maize leaf.
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