Annals of the Entomological Society of America (2013) 106, 643-651

Adrian Augusto Sosa Gomez Rolim, Silvia Akimi Cavaguchi Yano, Alexandre Specht, Celia Guadalupe Tardelli De Jesus Andrade and Daniel Ricardo Sosa-Gómez (2013)
Morphological and molecular characterization of the eggs of some noctuid species associated with soybean in Brazil
Annals of the Entomological Society of America 106 (5), 643-651
Abstract: The most important species of Lepidoptera that attack soybean, in descending order of importance, are Chrysodeixis includens (Walker), Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner, Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker), Spodoptera eridania (Stoll), and Spodoptera albula (Walker). In addition, Rachiplusia nu ( Guenée ) is one of the most common Plusiinae in the southern region of Brazil, encompassing the states of Paraná, Santa Catalina, and Rio Grande do Sul. The correct identification of these species is essential for choosing the appropriate control measures, as they differ in their susceptibility to insecticides and biological control agents. To distinguish Lepidoptera species commonly found in Brazil, the eggshells of all these species were morphologically characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Diagnostic characters for differentiating species include shape of rosette petals, number of primary cells, number of secondary cells, number of ribs, and rosette diameter. Also, a molecular diagnostic method using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was developed to distinguish noctuid species commonly found in Brazil. A 658-bp region of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene was amplified using PCR and then sequenced. The five Lepidoptera species were distinguished by restriction enzymes Bpm I and Mbol. RFLPs produced by Bpm I endonuclease were useful to discriminate species from within Spodoptera (S. cosmioides, S. eridania, and S. albula) and R. nu from C. includens. However, Bpm I did not digest the amplicons from S. eridania and C. includens, which were discriminated by RFLP patterns produced by the restriction enzyme MboI. PCR-RFLP can be performed in a short period, and it is useful to distinguish the most important Brazilian Lepidoptera soybean pests.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Daniel R. Sosa-Gomez

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Anticarsia gemmatalis	Soybean (Glycine max)
	Chrysodeixis includens	Soybean (Glycine max)
	Spodoptera eridania	Soybean (Glycine max)
	Rachiplusia nu	Soybean (Glycine max)	Brazil (south)
	Spodoptera cosmioides	Soybean (Glycine max)
	Spodoptera albula	Soybean (Glycine max)