Publications by authors named "Tom R Bilbo"
Background: Various insecticides are available to manage diverse pest complexes in commercial vegetable production, but knowledge gaps exist regarding their overall performance in pest suppression, profitability, and compatibility with biological control. We conducted trials in staked tomatoes in western North Carolina in 2017-2018 to compare how different insecticide programs managed key pests and their interactions with Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot, a predator of the twospotted spider mite (TSSM, Tetranychus urticae Koch). Treatments compared no insecticides to broad-spectrum ('hard') foliar applications, selective ('soft') foliar applications, and to chemigation of selective systemic insecticides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Commercial vegetable production in the United States of America (USA) often relies on foliar insecticide sprays for managing key insect pests. However, foliar applications of insecticides have a number of drawbacks to the health of consumers, farmworkers and the environment. Drip chemigation is the application of pesticides to the soil through trickle (drip) irrigation systems, and can overcome a number of the drawbacks typical of foliar insecticide applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe twospotted spider mite (TSSM, Tetranychus urticae Koch) is a key pest of tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicon L. [Solanales: Solanaceae]) in North Carolina, and its management has relied principally on synthetic acaricides. Augmentative biological control of TSSM is a commonplace and effective management strategy in greenhouses worldwide, but in field-grown vegetable crops biocontrol of TSSM is poorly developed.
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- The fall armyworm is a significant pest for corn crops in the Americas, managed mostly by genetically modified Bt corn that produces insecticidal proteins.
- Field trials in South Carolina tested the effectiveness of Bt and non-Bt corn hybrids alongside insecticide applications to control fall armyworm infestations and their impact on grain yield.
- While Bt hybrids effectively reduced fall armyworm damage compared to insecticides, not all hybrids led to substantial yield protection, highlighting the need for alternative management strategies when pest resistance is a factor.
Article Synopsis
- The corn earworm, a pest that primarily targets corn, can be managed using genetically modified corn that produces insecticidal proteins from a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), but variations in protein levels can lead to resistance issues.
- Research conducted in South Carolina tested nine types of Bt and non-Bt corn hybrids, revealing that certain hybrids with multiple Bt proteins significantly reduced feeding damage to corn tissues compared to those with a single protein.
- The study found that while there were differences in feeding patterns and larval growth stages, there was no notable difference in the feeding behavior of larvae on Bt vs. non-Bt hybrids, suggesting the need for effective resistance management strategies like using mixed seeds.
The corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), is managed in corn and cotton in the United States primarily using transgenic cultivars that produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). However, increasing reports of resistance to one or more Bt proteins threaten the continued efficacy of Bt traits. To better understand the development of resistance of H.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is only moderately susceptible to most toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) expressed in transgenic corn. To better understand the impact of Bt corn on the life cycle of H. zea, we collected pupae of H.
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