Arthropod-Plant Interactions (2016) 10, 445-453

Luziani R. Bestete, Jorge B. Torres, Rebecca B.B. Silva and Christian S.A. Silva-Torres (2016)
Water stress and kaolin spray affect herbivorous insects' success on cotton
Arthropod-Plant Interactions 10 (5), 445-453
Abstract: Ecological hypotheses of plant–insect herbivore interactions suggest that insects perform better on weakened plants and plants grown under optimal conditions are less damaged. This study tested the hypothesis that the colonization and oviposition rates by pests with different feeding strategies and levels of specialization are affected in different ways by two conditions commonly faced by commercially grown plants–water deficit and application of kaolin sprays, a reducer of abiotic plant stressors. We used four major pests of cotton as insect herbivore models. Three were chewing Lepidoptera: Alabama argillacea (Hüb.), a monophagous pest on cotton; Heliothis virescens (Fabr.), which is polyphagous, but with cotton as a primary host; and Chrysodeixis includens (Walk.), which is polyphagous, with cotton as secondary host. The fourth pest was a sap-sucking species, the polyphagous whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gen.). In both choice and no-choice trials, the three chewing pests oviposited significantly less upon water-stressed plants; the greatest effect was observed for C. includens (>90 % reduction in oviposition under choice and >58 % under no-choice conditions). In contrast, the sap-sucking B. tabaci exhibited statistically more colonization and oviposition on water-stressed plants. Application of kaolin sprays reduced colonization and oviposition by all herbivore species tested, irrespective of irrigation regime and feeding strategies.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Jorge B. Torres

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Heliothis virescens	Cotton (Gossypium)
	Chrysodeixis includens	Cotton (Gossypium)
	Alabama argillacea	Cotton (Gossypium)