Oviposition and Establishment of the Southwestern Corn Borer on Corn1

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Abstract
Freshly emerged southwestern corn borer moths, Zeadiatraea grandiosella (Dyar), caged with corn in different developmental stages, did not exhibit preference for any stage or age of plants. Numbers of eggs deposited in 1961 were directly correlated with surface area available for moth contact, with plants having greater green leaf area receiving more eggs, Egg counts in a cage and in open-field blocks in 1962 gave similar results. Green leaves of irrigated plants received 83% to 93% of all eggs counted in the cage in 1961. Upper leaf surfaces of tasseling and dough-stage plants received 47% and 62% of all eggs, respectively. Lower leaf surfaces for the same stages received 36% and 31%. Most eggs were deposited on tasseling and dough-stage plants in 1961 at 4-6 feet above ground. Only 9% were deposited in the lower 2-foot interval on dough-stage plants where lower leaves were deteriorating. Mean egg recovery from caged moths in 1961 and 1962 was 61 and 78 per female. Females were most productive the first 2 days following mating, and thereafter egg production regressed until they became spent by the fifth day. In an establishment test, approximately 5 times more larvae survived on whorl than on dough-stage plants during the first 10 days of the feeding period. Low establishment rate on older plants is the primary reason for lower infestation of early corn by second-generation borers.

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