International Journal of Tropical Insect Science (2010) 30, 108-114

Venu M. Margam, Ibrahim Baoua, Niango M. Ba, Mohammad F. Ishiyaku, Joseph E. Huesing, Barry R. Pittendrigh and Larry L. Murdock (2010)
Wild host plants of legume pod borer Maruca vitrata (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Crambidae) in southern Niger and northern Nigeria
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science 30 (2), 108-114
Abstract: We surveyed three locations in West Africa, two in northern Nigeria and one in southern Niger, for the presence of wild alternative hosts of the legume pod borer (LPB) Maruca vitrata Fabricius, which could serve as natural unstructured refugia for transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-cowpea. We surveyed a total of 67 sites in proximity to cowpea fields in the Sudan Savannah (Kano, Nigeria), the Northern Guinea Savannah (Zaria, Nigeria) and the Sahel Savannah (Maradi, Niger) ecological zones. The results indicate that alternative host plants for LPB are scarce or absent during the cowpea-growing season in these areas.
(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): Venu Madhav Margam, Niango Malick Ba, Larry L. Murdock, Joseph E. Huesing

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Maruca vitrata		Niger
	Maruca vitrata		Nigeria
Bacillus thuringiensis genes in crops (entomopathogen)	Maruca vitrata	Cowpea and relatives (Vigna)