Infestation Rates and Tiller Morphology Effects by the Switchgrass Moth on Six Cultivars of Switchgrass
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Infestation Rates and Tiller Morphology Effects by the Switchgrass Moth on Six Cultivars of Switchgrass Veronica Calles Torrez & Paul J. Johnson & Arvid Boe
Published online: 12 February 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a potential biomass crop for native species-based biofuel systems in North America. A recently identified pest of switchgrass, the switchgrass moth, Blastobasis repartella (Dietz) (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae), feeds in the basal aboveground internodes and below-ground in the proaxis and rhizomes, causing premature tiller and rhizome loss. Our goal was to determine genetic and temporal variation among six upland cultivars for frequency of tiller infestation by larvae of the switchgrass moth in mature stands in the northern Great Plains and if variation in biomass production was associated with variation in frequency of infestation. Data were collected in 2011 and 2012 for tiller density, biomass, frequency of infestation, number of leaves per healthy and infested tiller, and weights of healthy and infested tillers. Differences were found among cultivars for tiller density, biomass yield, and numbers of leaves per healthy and infested tillers. ‘Summer’, ‘Sunburst’, ‘Pathfinder’, and ‘Cave-In-Rock’ were the highest yielding cultivars. Mean frequency of infestation was different between 2011 (6.7 %) and 2012 (9.6 %). Infested tillers had one less collared leaf than healthy tillers. The weights of healthy tillers were ca. 3× those of infested tillers in both years, suggesting an impact on biomass accumulation and economic value. Levels of infestation were similar for all six cultivars, indicating no feeding preference by the switchgrass V. Calles Torrez : P. J. Johnson (*) Insect Biodiversity Lab, Department of Plant Science, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, Box 2207A, 57007, USA e-mail: [email protected] V. Calles Torrez e-mail: [email protected] A. Boe Department of Plant Science, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, Box 2140C, 57007, USA e-mail: [email protected]
moth larva among genetically diverse cultivars of switchgrass. Regression of biomass yield on frequency of infestation showed negative linear relationships for ‘Carthage’ and ‘Kentucky 1625’. Keywords Panicum virgatum . Blastobasis repartella . Biomass feedstock . Tiller density . Infestation frequency . Biomass
Introduction Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a native warm-season grass and a major component of natural and anthropogenic grasslands throughout most of North America and is a characteristic species of the Tallgrass Prairie. This species is important for sustaining natural prairie biodiversity and for forage and wildlife conservation in the USA [1]. The plant is host to an increasingly documented guild of associated arthropods including four or five moths [2, 3, unpublished data], a midge [4], and at least two mites [unpublished data; R. Ochoa, personal communication]. Switchgrass is considered as a potential bioma
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