Published August 16, 2017 RESEARCH Tolerance in St. Augustinegrass Germplasm against Blissus insularis Barber (Hemiptera: Blissidae) Susana R. Milla-Lewis,* Katharine M. Youngs, Consuelo Arrellano, and Yasmin J. Cardoza S.R. Milla-Lewis, Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina ABSTRACT State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-7620; K.M. Youngs and Y.J. Cardoza, St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum Dep. of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State Univ., (Walt.) Kuntze] is a widely used lawn grass Raleigh, NC 27695-7613; C. Arrellano, Dep. of Statistics, North in the southern United States due to its Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-8203. Received 20 May stoloniferous growth habit and shade tolerance. 2016. Accepted 1 Dec. 2016. *Corresponding author (susana_milla- However, St. Augustinegrass is prone to
[email protected]). Assigned to Associate Editor Ambika Chandra. thatch accumulation, which is conducive to Abbreviations: FPLI, functional plant loss index; PI, plant introduction; pest problems, with the southern chinch bug SCB, southern chinch bug. (Blissus insularis Barber, SCB) being the most economically important one. Previous work to identify additional sources of SCB resistance t. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] reported genotypes with comparatively high Sis widely used as a lawn grass in warm, tropical, and sub- numbers of recovered insects but low damage tropical regions of the world (Sauer, 1972). It is a popular choice ratings. This study was conducted (i) to evaluate for lawns in the southern United States due to its aesthetically the performance of these materials in response pleasing appearance and shade tolerance (Busey and Davis, 1991; to varying SCB feeding densities, and (ii) Trenholm and Nagata, 2005).