R. L. Meagher, Jr.R and J. C. Kgaspi 2 Texas A&M University Agricultural
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
S O U T IIW E S T E R N E N T O M O L O G IS T N IA R .2003 M ttIIN ‐F IE L D D IST R IB U T IO N O F T H R E E H O M O PT E R A N SP E C ttS IN T E X A S SU G A R C A N E R. L. Meagher,Jr.r andJ. C. kgaspi 2 TexasA&M University Agricultural Researchand ExtensionCenter 2415EastHighway 83 Weslaco,Texas 78596 ABSTRACT Sugarcanefields composed ofeither'CP 70-321'or'NCo 310'weresampled during 1993 and 1994 for three speciesofhomopteran insects. The West Indian canefly, Saccharosydne saccharivora(tlestwood), wasthe mostabundant speiies collectedwith densitiesreaching over 40 per shoot. Populationdensities varied sigrificantly throughoutthe seasonin 1993but were similar in 1994. No differencein densitieswere found between sugarcane cultivars. Both the sugarcanedelphacid, Perhinsiella saccharicidaKirkaldyand the leafhopperDraeculacephala portola Ball, were found in low numbers(< 1.0per shoot). P. saccharicidareached its highest levelslater in the season,and 'CP 70-321'shoots harbored more individuals than 'NCo 310' shoots.Although D. portola dertsitieswere low, differe,ncesamong fields andbetwecn cultivars were found. Aggregation,as measuredusing Taylor a and b coefficients, was shown to be greaterfor ,S.saccharivora than the other species. INTRODUCTION Sugarcane(interspecific hybrids of Saccharum)has been commercially grown in a tlree- county areaof southemTexas since 1972. Stemboringpyralids, Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar), andsugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis(F.), havebeen the most seriousinsect pests of the in{ustry (Meagher et al. 1994); however, other insects are active in the Texas sugarcaneagroecos)Nstem. The homopteranfauna was described in two earlierreports (Meagh€r et al. 1991,Meagher et al. 1993),although only basic surveyinformation was noted and samplingwas conductedusing a large suction device that did not estimateinsects per shoot. Three Auchenorrhyncha homopteran species, Saccharosydnesaccharivora (Westwood) (Delphacidae),Perhinsiella saccharicidaKirkaldy (Delphacidae), and Draeculacephala portola Ball (Cicadellidae),were relatively abundantin theseearlier surveys. l C u r ent ad dress:U S D A ‐A R S C M A V E , 1700 S W 2 3rd D r.,G おn es宙1le,F L 3260 8 2 ― c u rren t addressi U S D A A R S C M A V E , C enter for B lo logical C ontro l, F loi da A & M U n iv ersllんT allah assee,F L 32 307 The West Indian canefly,,Saccharosydne saccharivora,hasbeen associatedwith sugarcane in the Caribbean and in North, South, and Cenffal America for centuries (Metcalfe 1969). This delphacid has historically caused va.rying degrees of economic damage (Charpentier 1970), and has been documented in all continental sugarcane-producing states (Charpentier I 970, Hall I 988, Meagher et al. 1993). The sugarcane delphacid, P. saccharicida, hrst noted in the continental United States in Florida in 1982 (Sosa 1985), was documented in Texas in 1989 (Meagher et al. 1991) and was recently discovered in Louisiana in 1994 (White et al. 1995). This insect can cause economic damage (Wilson 1987) and is a vector of Fijivirus sp., the causal agent of Fiji disease of sugarcane (Francki and Grivell 1972,Egan et al. 1989). D. portola is commonly collected in sugarcane (Hall 1988, Meagher et al. 1993) and is sporadically captured in other grass crops (Wilson et al. 1973, Hawkins et al. I 979). It was reported to be a vector of chlorotic streak in sugarcane (Abbott and Ingram 1942) until further investigation proved otherwise (Abbou et al. 1961). An understanding of the spatial pattems of an insect can aid in developing sampling plans (Southwood 1978). Spatial pattems are affected by intrinsic factors such as oviposition pattem and immature dispersal, extrinsic factors such as host quality and environmental toxicants, and estimation procedures such as sampling plan paf,ameters,sample unit size, number of samples, and sampler bias (Wilson 1994). Spatial pattems can depend on population density, with low densities tending to be indistinguishable from uniform or random, and high densities of most insects tending to be aggregated. The efficiency of a resulting sampling plan must balance cost considerations against the quality of the information provided. The objective of the present research was to describe the within-field distributions of S. saccharivora, P. saccharicida, and D. portola adults and nymphs in two sugarcane cultivars and calculate sample sizes based on a defined level of reliabilitv. MATERIALS AND METHODS 'CP Fields and Sampling. Commercial sugarc:me fields of either 70-321' or'NCo 310' in different Lower Rio Grande Valley locations were sampled in 1993 ard 1994. Field size ranged from 6.3 to 15.7 ha. Sampling was initiated during February or March and terminated in late August due to sugarcane harvesting. Every effort was taken to maintain a biweekly timetable; however, weather conditions or irrigation schedules occasionally delayed sampling in individual fields. Each field was sampled a total of 8 to 10 times per year. Sampling was conducted duringmid- to late morningbyrandomlyselecting 30 shoots (randomizedbyselecting sugarcane row and number of paces within row) per field. Starting at the base of the shoot, leaves were gently pulled back and the number of adults and nymphs present was recorded. Statistical Analyiis. Means per shoot for each species were calculated for each weekly sample taken in each field. Numbers were compared among weeks, among fields and between cultivars using analysis of variance @ROC GLM, SAS lnstitute 1996). Counts were square root (y + 0.5) transformed before analysis, but untransformed means are shoyn in taQles and figwes. b Spatial dispersion was investigated using Taylor coefficients, 32 : a * lTaylor'i961, 1984). Taylor coefficients were estimated by frtting ln (S-) : ln a + b ln ( x) (PROC REG, SAS Institute 1996). Estimates for d and D were compared using analyses of variance (PROC GLM, SAS Institute 1996) to examine the effects of cultivar. Wilson and Room (1982) presented the following equation for estimating sample size where the goal was to estimate population density with a defined level of reliability: (td2/Dr)2 o-(b-'), where 1.,72is the standard normal variate for a two-tailed confidence interval, D" is a proportion defined as the ratio of half the desired CI to the mean (D" : lCV2l / x for enumerative sampling), and a and D are Taylor coefficients. This equation permits one to estimate required sample size (n) over a range of densities for any species and sample unit whose Taylor coefficientsare known. Requiredsample size was calculated using ta/2-- 1.645and D" :0.2. RESLILTSAND DISCUSSION Higher numbersof S.saccharivora were collectedin 1993 than I 994,with seasonalmeans of23.7 and3.0individualspershoot,respectively.Populationsvariedsignificantlythroughout the seasonin I 993 (F -- 3.2; df : 23,42; P : 0.0005),with peakpopulations occurring in May (Fig. 1a). Meagheret al. (1993)also found more S.sacchaivora during May-Junethan March- April. Migrating adultsinto youngor ratoon sugzrcanefields can boostpopulations !o over 30 per shootduring the initial phasesof colonization(Metcalfe 1969), and this wasexemplified in onefieldwithameanof44.T+7.8(SE)Westhrdiancaneflypershoot.Theselargepopulations in a 'NCo 310' field nearElsa contributed to significantamong field variation(F: 6.9; df :3, 42; P = 0.QQ07).However, S. saccharivora were found in similar numbersbetween cultivars (F : l.8; df = 1,42; P:0.1898). kr 1994,only amongfield variationwas sigrificant (F -- 2.9; df : 4,3l; P = 0.0403)(Fig. lb). S. saccharivoraadults and nymphs were the leastmobile and wereeasy to locatebecause they were usually present on theunderside ofleafblades. Perbinsiellasaccharicidapopulations were low inboth years,not exceeding1.0 pershoot. Low numbers of P. saccharicida wqe found in our previous study; however,sampling was conductedusinga largesuction sampling method thatprobablywasn't appropriate forthis insect (Meagfueretal.1993). lnl993,populationsvariedsignificantlythroughouttheseason(F:3.0' df:23,42;P:0.OOl),withpeakpopulationsoccur4inginJulyandAugust(Fig.2a).Among field and cultivar differenceswere not significant (P > 0.05). Seasonalabundance studies in Floridashowed that sugarcane delphacid population densities ranged widelyfield-to-field (Sosa 1985)and increased during the summermonths with peakdensities approaching 7.5 per shoot in Octoberand November(Sosa et al. 1986). However,maximum population densities in Louisianasugarcane were found to be 0.3 per shoot(White et al. 1995). We werenot ableto sampleduring fall and winter due to sugarcaneharvesting. Peakpopulation densitiesof this insectin southeastemQueensland, Australia were as high as96 adultsand 335 nymphs per shoot (Allsoppand Bull 1990). br 1994,seasonal, among field, and cultivar variationwere all significant(P < 0.05). Populationdensities were low from Februarythrough April, but were higher from May through August (Fig. 2b). 'CP 70-321' shootscontained more sugarcanedelphacid adults and nymphs 'NCo than 310' shoots(F: 5.6; df : 1, 3l; P:0.0242) (Fig. 2c). Cultivarpreference and populationdevelopment differences have been shown experimentally and in field studies(Chang andOta 1978,Taniguchi et al. 1980,Allsopp andBull 1990). Densitiesfor D. portola werealso low, neverexceeding L0 per shoot. Earlierresearch showedthis speciesto be the most cornmonlycollected (Meagher et al. 1993). However, samplesin that studywere takenfrom sugarcaneand surroundinggrasses using a largesuction sampler, and it is possible that most of the D. portola population was collected from non- sugarcanehosts. Populationdensities in both yearswere not different acrossweeks (P > 0.14) but weredifferent amongfields andbetween cultivars (P < 0.05). kr 1993,densities were higher 'NCo 'CP in 310' than 70-321'shoots (0.2 * 0.01vs.0.12 + 0.01,respectively; F = 14.5;df : 1,42; P: 0.0004)(Figs. 3a and 3b), while in 1994,'CP 70-321'shoots harbored more 'NCo leaftoppersthan 310'shoots (0.37 + g.g2ur.6.27 *0.O2,respectively; F= 4.4;df :1,31; P:0.0444) @igs.4a and4b). D. ponola werethe most active species collected, with nymphs presentin the whorls and adultsin whorls and on leafblades. Tayrora coefficientranged from 0.85 for D.