BANKS GRASS MITE (OLIGONYCHUS-PRATENSIS) ABUNDANCE ON SORGHUM CULTIVARS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF NITROGEN USE AND METABOLISM EFFICIENCY Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Banks grass mite (Oligonychus pratensis (Banks)), abundance was recorded for three years on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) cultivars with different levels of nitrogen (N) use and metabolism efficiency. The cultivars included 77CS1, SC630-11E, R6956, and SC325-12. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied to plots containing each cultivar at 0,45, and 180 kg Na ha-1. Significantly more mites were on plants at 180 kg N ha-1 than at 0 or 45 kg N ha-1. The lowest mite densities were recorded on SC325-12, the N-use-inefficient and N-metabolism-efficient cultivar. In July, O. pratensis abundance was statistically equivalent on SC325-12 and on R6956, the other N-metabolism-efficient cultivar. In August, mite densities on R6956 were as high as on 77CS1 and SC630-11E, which are N-metabolism-ineficient cultivars. Mite densities were lower on N-use-inefficient and N-metabolism-efficient sorghum cultivars than on their respective efficiency counterparts. Physiological differences in N-use and metabolism-inefficient cultivars may influence the amount of leaf N plus the amount and form of amino acids and other N-based chemicals in sorghum leaves. These plant chemicals have been shown to influence mite abundance on several hosts, and may have been key to influencing the results of these experiments. 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

published proceedings

  • EXPERIMENTAL & APPLIED ACAROLOGY

altmetric score

  • 3

author list (cited authors)

  • ARCHER, T. L., ONKEN, A. B., BYNUM, E. D., & PETERSON, G. C.

citation count

  • 3

complete list of authors

  • ARCHER, TL||ONKEN, AB||BYNUM, ED||PETERSON, GC

publication date

  • October 1990