Symposium: Plant Resistance to Insects in the Southeastern United States: Plant-Insect Behavioral Studies: Examples with Heliothis and Manduca Species

Authors

  • Michael D. Jackson

Abstract

A thorough understanding of the behavioral repertoire of an insect pest species is a key element in the establishment of a successful program for the development of plant cultivars resistant to insect attack. Behavioral components are especially important during the host finding and host acceptance phases of a pest's biology. The behavior of an insect pest is affected by the physical and chemical characteristics of its potential host plant. Breeders may modify plant characteristics that affect the behavior of pest species so they are less damaging. Avoidance or rejection of an unsuitable plant as food or as an oviposition substrate represents one of the primary modalities, nonpreference or antixenosis, of plant resistance to insects. The behavioral adaptations of insects in relation to their host plants and the impact this has on host plant resistance are reviewed here. In particular, the behaviors of the polyphagous Heliothis spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and the oligophagous Manduca spp. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) are emphasized, as these are two important pest complexes in the southeastern United States for which insect-resistant germplasm has been developed.

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Published

1990-09-01

Issue

Section

Literature Review Articles