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Effect of soil burial depth and wetting on mortality of diapausing larvae and patterns of post-diapause adult emergence of sorghum midge, Stenodiplosis sorghicola (Coquillett) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

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Franzmann, B.A., Lloyd, R.J. and Zalucki, M.P. (2006) Effect of soil burial depth and wetting on mortality of diapausing larvae and patterns of post-diapause adult emergence of sorghum midge, Stenodiplosis sorghicola (Coquillett) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Australian Journal of Entomology, 45 (3). pp. 192-197.

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Article Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-6055.2006.00542.x

Publisher URL: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/home

Abstract

In south-eastern Queensland, Australia, sorghum planted in early spring usually escapes sorghum midge, Stenodiplosis sorghicola, attack. Experiments were conducted to better understand the role of winter diapause in the population dynamics of this pest. Emergence patterns of adult midge from diapausing larvae on the soil surface and at various depths were investigated during spring to autumn of 1987/88–1989/90. From 1987/88 to 1989/90, 89%, 65% and 98% of adult emergence, respectively, occurred during November and December. Adult emergence from larvae diapausing on the soil surface was severely reduced due to high mortality attributed to surface soil temperatures in excess of 40°C, with much of this mortality occurring between mid-September and mid-October. Emergence of adults from the soil surface was considerably delayed in the 1988/89 season compared with larvae buried at 5 or 10 cm which had similar emergence patterns for all three seasons. In 1989/90, when a 1-cm-deep treatment was included, there was a 392% increase in adult emergence from this treatment compared with deeper treatments. Some diapausing larvae on the surface did not emerge at the end of summer in only 1 year (1989/90), when 28.0% of the larvae on the surface remained in diapause, whereas only 0.8% of the buried larvae remained in diapause. We conclude that the pattern of emergence explains why spring plantings of sorghum in south-eastern Queensland usually escape sorghum midge attack.

Item Type:Article
Corporate Creators:Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI), Agri-Science, Crop and Food Science, Plant Science
Business groups:Crop and Food Science
Additional Information:© Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Keywords:Diapause; population dynamics; sorghum midge.
Subjects:Science > Zoology > Invertebrates > Insects
Plant pests and diseases > Economic entomology
Live Archive:30 Jan 2009 00:16
Last Modified:03 Sep 2021 16:43

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