LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Temporal variation and spatial distribution of the pest insect Edessa meditabunda in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) as an alternative host plant

Photo by philldane from unsplash

ABSTRACT Cotton is an alternative host for Edessa meditabunda (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), especially after the soybean harvest in surrounding areas, when large numbers of insects invade cotton fields and damage reproductive… Click to show full abstract

ABSTRACT Cotton is an alternative host for Edessa meditabunda (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), especially after the soybean harvest in surrounding areas, when large numbers of insects invade cotton fields and damage reproductive structures such as flowers and developing bolls. However, no studies on its occurrence and spatial distribution have been conducted in cotton. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the temporal variation and spatial distribution of E. meditabunda in the alternative host plant, Gossypium hirsutum. The study was carried out in an area of 1.1 ha planted with cotton that was divided in 64 plots of 169 m2 each, where entire cotton plants were examined weekly and E. meditabunda nymphs and adults were counted. Dispersion rates and theoretical frequency distributions were calculated and analyzed with significance level at 5%. Assessments were carried out from seedling emergence until the appearance of bolls, but E. meditabunda was present only during the reproductive stage of cotton plants. This study detected the dispersal of this stink bug from late-cycle soybean fields to cotton, indicating cotton’s potential as an alternative host plant, providing shelter and food. Based on aggregation indices, the spatial distribution of nymphs and adults in cotton was aggregated at the beginning of the infestation, but tended toward randomness as bolls reached maturity. The occurrence of E. meditabunda in cotton was best described by the Poisson distribution with significance level at 5%.

Keywords: alternative host; host plant; spatial distribution; cotton; distribution

Journal Title: Revista Brasileira de Entomologia
Year Published: 2021

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.