Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Larval Injury to Corn Grown for Seed Production Following Soybeans Grown for Seed Production

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Abstract
In late June 1987, severe western com rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, larval injury to com grown for seed production (inbred com) was observed within a 3-km 2 area near Piper City (Ford County), IL. The rootworm injury occurred in 6 fields that in the prior year had been planted to weed-free soybeans grown for seed production. The severe rootworm injury problem reoccurred in 1st-yr seed com in the same area in 1988 and to varying degrees in the years since (through 1994). Laboratory and field studies were initiated in 1987 to investigate several possible causes of the problem. Under simulated field soil temperature conditions, western com rootworm eggs from the Piper City population did not show evidence of the prolonged diapause trait. Although higher than expected oviposition took place in Piper City soybean fields, a large field study with staggered plantings of soybeans at Urbana, IL, <75 km away, confirmed earlier studies that few western com rootworm eggs are laid in weed-free soybean fields. Pyrethroid insecticides are routinely used in seed corn for com earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Baddie), control. In laboratory bioassays, the pyrethroid insecticide, permethrin, repelled western com rootworm female beetles from treated com to lay eggs in untreated soybeans and demonstrated that western com rootworm damage to 1st-yr seed com could have been caused by pyrethroid use the previous summer in adjacent cornfields.

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