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Mating of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) moths and their host plant origins as larvae within Australian cotton farming systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

G.H. Baker  and
C.R. Tann
G.H. Baker*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre, PO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
C.R. Tann
Affiliation:
CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre, Locked Bag 59, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia
*
*Author for correspondence Fax: +61 2 6246 4000 E-mail: Geoff.Baker@csiro.au
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Abstract

Transgenic (Bt) cotton dominates Australian cotton production systems. It is grown to control feeding damage by lepidopteran pests such as Helicoverpa armigera. The possibility that these moths might become resistant to Bt remains a threat. Consequently, refuge crops (with no Bt) must be grown with Bt cotton to produce large numbers of Bt-susceptible moths to reduce the risk of resistance developing. A key assumption of the refuge strategy, that moths from different host plant origins mate at random, remains untested. During the period of the study reported here, refuge crops included pigeon pea, conventional cotton (C3 plants), sorghum or maize (C4 plants). To identify the relative contributions made by these (and perhaps other) C3 and C4 plants to populations of H. armigera in cotton landscapes, we measured stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) within individual moths captured in the field. Overall, 53% of the moths were of C4 origin. In addition, we demonstrated, by comparing the stable isotope signatures of mating pairs of moths, that mating is indeed random amongst moths of different plant origins (i.e. C3 and C4). Stable nitrogen isotope signatures (δ15N) were recorded to further discriminate amongst host plant origins (e.g. legumes from non-legumes), but such measurements proved generally unsuitable. Since 2010, maize and sorghum are no longer used as dedicated refuges in Australia. However, these plants remain very common crops in cotton production regions, so their roles as ‘unstructured’ refuges seem likely to be significant.

Keywords

Bt resistanceHelicoverparefugeshost plant originsrandom mating
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 103 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 171 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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