LAUSR

Short-stature corn is approximately 60 cm shorter than conventional corn at maturity and is expected to soon be commercially available in the United States. One advantage of short-stature corn is lodging resistance, which should help facilitate its adoption by producers. However, knowledge gaps exist concerning how insect pests interact with short-stature corn. Western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, and European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner, are important pests of corn in the United States. To manage these pests, transgenic corn producing insecticidal toxins derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is commonly planted. Blended refuges, where non-Bt and Bt plants are interspersed within a field, are a method of insect resistance management for Bt corn. However, past research has found that larval movement between Bt and non-Bt plants can reduce the effectiveness of non-Bt refuges in delaying Bt resistance. The primary goal of this work was to understand whether the effectiveness of a non-Bt blended refuge to delay resistance would be similar between tall corn and short-stature corn. We conducted a field study to evaluate larval survival and movement patterns between Bt and non-Bt corn. The experimental design simulated a blended refuge in order to understand whether patterns of pest movement and survival were similar between tall- and short-stature corn. We found larval movement and survival for both pests on short-stature corn largely resembled the effects on tall corn, and therefore, current resistance management strategies should be applicable for short-stature corn.