Interaction between Corn Genotypes with Bt Protein and Management Strategies for Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract

Corn (Zea mays L.; Poaceae) is one of the most important agricultural crops in the world, but pests can compromise the yield and quality of this plant (Teixeira et al. 2014; Moraes et al. 2015). Lepidoptera larvae are among the most significant corn pests in Brazil, especially Diatraea saccharalis Fabricius sensu Guenée (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Helicoverpa zea Boddie (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Mocis latipes (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), and Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Pereira et al. 2000; Girón-Pérez et al. 2014; Paiva et al. 2016). Spodoptera frugiperda, the most important species of this group, is widely distributed, damaging the vegetative and reproductive stages of corn plants (Ramalho et al. 2011; Silva et al. 2013). Newly hatched larvae of this insect scrape the new and developed leaves, and also feed on the stem and corn ears (Farias et al. 2014; Paiva et al. 2016).