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Texas Panhandle Corn Rootworm Probably Resistant to Some Bt Corn

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There were a crazy lot of western corn rootworm beetles emerging from continuous corn fields this summer in the Texas Panhandle, and with seed purchase decisions on the horizon it might be a good idea to talk about Bt resistance.  For two years now, Dr. Ed Bynum, Extension Entomologist in Amarillo, and I have seen extensive damage to Bt corn with the toxin mCry3a. These fields have been found in the zone from Dalhart in the north to Hart in the south.  We have been seeing all the textbook symptoms of a failed Bt rootworm toxin:  growers using soil applied insecticides in addition to their Bt seed, heavy root damage, plant lodging, lots of adult beetles on the wing because they were not killed as larvae feeding on roots, and aerial spraying of adult beetles to try and kill them before they clip silks or lay eggs that will become rootworm larvae the following year. This year we received phone calls from consultants around Hart that were alarmed at the huge numbers of beetle...
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What's Up With All the Earworms in Bt Corn?

This is a jointly issued article from Extension Entomologists Drs. Pat Porter (Lubbock) and Ed Bynum (Amarillo). There are large numbers of corn earworm larvae in Bt corn ears in the Texas Panhandle, and some people are spraying in an attempt to control them.  The first question we are getting is what to spray, but the better question would be whether to spray.  Corn earworm is usually an ear tip feeder, and on its own is seldom an economic pest of corn. However, this year we are seeing earworms doing more than just tip damage, and feeding lower in the ear. The reason(s) for this change in behavior are unknown.  We have not forgotten last year though, when there was good evidence that just a little ear tip damage resulted in higher fumonisin levels. This could happen again this year, especially if the weather in August and September turns off wet and relatively cool. However, based on what we saw last year, the little bit of tip damage needed to promote fumonisin has alre...
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Terms We Will Soon Use in Discussing Resistance to Bt (GM) Crops

It has been quite a challenging summer with our Bt crops on the Texas High Plains. This year we have seen huge numbers of corn rootworms emerging from many fields planted to mCry3a, a corn rootworm Bt toxin that has been used year after year in continuous corn. These fields had significant root pruning caused by rootworm larvae and produced a large number of adults � survivors of the toxin.  We have also seen corn earworm do significant damage to Bt corn that worked well a few years ago, and we have documented Bt cotton with unexpectedly high levels of bollworm damage and large larvae surviving the Bt toxins. In each case we collected insects from the field and sent them for laboratory assay to determine if the insects were resistant to the Bt toxins in the crops. These assays take time, but it is highly probable that in a few months we will be reporting that resistance has been confirmed in corn rootworm and corn earworm/cotton bollworm.  To help explain what is going on in n...
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