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Member Symposium

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Toward a More Holistic Management of the Western Bean Cutworm, Striacosta albicosta

Trichogramma ostriniae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) as a potential inundative biological control agent in western Nebraska

Wednesday, November 13, 2024
9:35 AM – 9:55 AM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 131 B, PCC
Oral Presentation
The western bean cutworm, Striacosta albicosta, is a primary pest of corn and dry edible bean, for which control measures are often warranted. Inundative releases of Trichogramma ostriniae have been used to control lepidopterous pests, such as the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, in eastern North America (e.g., New York, Virginia). However, no prior field studies have assessed T. ostriniae as a biological control agent in the North American Great Plains. Objectives for this study were 1) to determine the suitability of S. albicosta as a host for T. ostriniae and 2) to assess the feasibility of T. ostriniae as a biological control agent of S. albicosta in Nebraska corn and dry edible bean fields. Dispersal and parasitism at 36 locations surrounding a central release point were monitored with yellow sticky cards and sentinel egg masses (O. nubilalis, S. albicosta, and Ephestia kuehniella). T. ostriniae adults tended to be concentrated near the point of release. However, egg parasitism was so low that the minimum rates of T. ostriniae needed for effective control could not be determined. Our evidence indicates that the low parasitism measured in this study may indicate low suitability of T. ostriniae to Western Nebraska and, possibly, the Great Plains.