Population Dynamics of Dichelops melacanthus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) on Host Plants
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ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR AND BIONOMICS
Population Dynamics of Dichelops melacanthus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) on Host Plants JJ SILVA1, MU VENTURA1, FAC SILVA2, AR PANIZZI2 1
Depto de Agronomia, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Univ Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brasil Embrapa Trigo, Lab de Entomologia, Passo Fundo, RS, Brasil
2
Keywords Green belly stink bug, corn, soybean, wheat, wild hosts Correspondence MU Ventura, Depto de Agronomia, Campus Universitário, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Univ Estadual de Londrina, CaixaPostal 6001, 86051-970 Londrina, PR, Brasil; [email protected] Edited by Wesley AC Godoy – ESALQ/USP Received 19 April 2011 and accepted 26 November 2012 Published online 18 January 2013 * Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil 2013
Abstract The stink bug Dichelops melacanthus (Dallas) has become one of the major pests of corn and wheat in Brasil, mainly after a shift from the conventional tillage system to the no tillage cultivation system. This fact may be due to the simultaneous occurrence of second planting corn with wheat cultivation, and the presence of wild hosts. This study aimed to evaluate the population dynamics of D. melacanthus on wild hosts adjacent to areas cultivated with corn, wheat, and soybean during the season and offseason of soybean cultivation. Weekly surveys were conducted in the region of Londrina, PR, Brasil from the beginning of July 2007 up to the end of June 2008 using the square meter method. Corn (Zea mays), soybean (Glycine max), tropical spiderwort (Commelina benghalensis), hairy indigo (Indigofera hirsuta), crotalaria (Crotalaria pallida), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) were identified as hosts of D. melacanthus. Signal grass was the host in which stink bug adults were found in higher numbers, while nymphs and adults were consistently collected on tropical spiderwort. Although nymphs completed their development on tropical spiderwort seeds, this host was found less suitable than soybean seeds.
Introduction Phytophagous pentatomids are usually seed feeders, attacking plants during the reproductive period and are of economic importance worldwide (Panizzi 1997, McPherson & McPherson 2000). In some areas, such as in the neotropics, stink bugs can reproduce throughout the year, feeding on cultivated and on noncultivated plants which may be of great importance in building up of insect pest populations (Panizzi 1997). The Neotropical pentatomid Dichelops melacanthus (Dallas) is an important pest of several crops in southern Brasil. This stink bug has been considered a secondary pest of soybean (Glycine max) for several years, but has recently become a key pest of corn (Zea mays) and wheat (Triticum aestivum; Manfredi-Coimbra et al 2005) and was also reported on black oat (Avena strigosa) and triticale (Tritico secale; Chocorosqui, unpublished). The
simultaneous occurrence of second planting maize with wheat and the stink bug wild hosts provide good conditions for the survival and rapid proliferation of this insect. Recent massive adop
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