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Dispersal Of Newly Eclosed European Corn Borer Adults (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) From Corn Into Small-Grain Aggregation Plots, Brendon J. Reardon, Douglas V. Sumerford, Thomas W. Sappington

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Genetically modified, insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, Zea mays L., hybrids are used throughout the Corn Belt for European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis(Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), control. To slow development of Bt corn resistance, the Environmental Protection Agency requires growers to plant a refuge. Determining the appropriate distance between a refuge and Bt corn, and development of mitigation-remediation strategies such as mass releases of susceptible moths, requires an understanding of adult dispersal and mating behavior. However, much remains unknown about these behaviors. Because mating often occurs in grass near cornfields where adult O. nubilalis aggregate, we planted small-grain plots as …