Resumen

YASEM DE ROMERO, Marta G.  y  ROMERO, Eduardo R.. Reduction of leaf consumption by Spodoptera frugiperda (Lep.: Noctuidae) infected with VPNSf isolated in Leales (Tucumán, Argentina). Rev. ind. agric. Tucumán [online]. 2013, vol.90, n.2, pp.29-38. ISSN 1851-3018.

At present, the management of crop damaging insects can be attained only by means of an integrated approach. The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is particularly difficult to control, so the availability of alternative management methods is important. The use of baculoviruses as conventionally applied biological insecticides constitutes an example of such methods, but its feasibility has to be assessed by quantifying foliar consumption by larvae after being thus infected, since death does not take place overnight. This paper aimed to quantify corn leaf consumption by S. frugiperda after being infected with the Nucleopolyhedrovirus strain isolated in Leales, Tucumán, Argentina, at different development stages, as compared with foliar consumption by non-infected larvae. Under the conditions of the bioassays conducted for this purpose, it was observed that it is convenient to infect larvae when they are three to five days old, since foliar consumption decreases by approximately 85%. If infection is induced when they are seven to nine days old, a 65% reduction in foliar consumption is recorded, which is still interesting. Overall, the VPNSf Leales isolate proved to be a promising control agent for S. frugiperda, since it led to significant reductions in corn leaf consumption by larvae at the four ages considered in the assays.

Palabras clave : Fall armyworm; Baculovirus; Foliar damage.

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