First-Generation European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Response to Three Conservation Tillage Systems in Minnesota

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Abstract
Plant injury and densities of mature larvae by first-generation Ostnnja nubilalis (Hubner), European corn borer, were examined in chisel-plow, ridge-tillage, and notillage maize, Zea mays (L.). in southeastern Minnesota during 1985-1987. Tillage plots were split with and without terbufos application and with and without Bacjllus thurjngjensjs permethrin application in all combinations. Chisel-plow suffered greater plant injury than ridge-tillage or no-tillage, probably because oviposition was greater in chisel-plow. Ovipositing females were not responding primarily to plant height or developmental stage. Soil surface temperatures were higher in chisel-plow during the early evening when oviposition occurred, and we suggest microclimate influenced female oviposition. Larval density was highest in chisel-plow maize that received terbufos. We concluded that the risk of yield loss to first-generation O. nubllaljs in ridge-tillage and no-tillage maize did not exceed the risk of yield loss in chisel-plow maize.