Assessment of Gaucho (R) seed treatment effects on beneficial insect abundance in sorghum Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Numbers of beneficial insects in sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, treated with Gaucho 480FS (imidacloprid, Gustafson LLC) to control greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), were compared to untreated sorghum in the Texas Southern Rolling Plains (San Angelo). Widespread use of this seed treatment, if detrimental to natural enemies, could adversely affect late-season pest control by natural enemies in sorghum and mid- to late-season pest control in adjacent cotton. Weekly visual inspections of 50 plants in each field found early season Hippodamia convergens Guerin numbers followed the same trend as that of corn leaf aphids, Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), with significant differences occurring 30 and 37 d after planting, but no differences were found at later dates. No significant differences were found for any of the other main predators collected by beat-bucket in late-season, suggesting the lack of any significant long-term detrimental effects from Gaucho seed treatment on late-season abundance of natural enemies in sorghum.

published proceedings

  • SOUTHWESTERN ENTOMOLOGIST

author list (cited authors)

  • Krauter, P. C., Sansone, C. G., & Heinz, K. M.

publication date

  • January 2001