Biological Effects of Developing Sorghum Panicles in a Meridic Diet on Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Development

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Abstract
Fresh panicle spikelets of developing sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, were mixed into a standard meridic diet and fed to neonate larvae of fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith). Differences between weights of FAW larvae fed ‘NK Savanna 5’ (resistant) and ‘Funk H-5245’ (susceptible) were found at the preflowering, flowering, milk, and hard-dough stages of development. Addition of 40 or 80 g of fresh immature kernels per 300 ml of diet resulted in significant differences in weights of FAW larvae fed the two sorghum hybrids. No significant relationship was found between tannin concentration of various stages of kernel development and weights of FAW larvae. In addition, no significant relationship was found between tannin concentration and weights of FAW larvae reared on diets containing milk-stage panicles of 12 sorghum genotypes. Chemical(s) within the glumes of the sorghum panicle probably confers resistance.

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