Aphid Honeydew Quality as a Food Source for Parasitoids Is Maintained in Bt Cotton

Aphid Honeydew Quality as a Food Source for Parasitoids Is Maintained in Bt Cotton

Bt-transgenic cotton has proven to be highly efficient in controlling key lepidopteran pests. One concern with the deployment of Bt cotton varieties is the potential proliferation of non-target pests. We previously showed that Bt cotton contained lower concentrations of insecticidal terpenoids as a result of reduced caterpillar damage, which benefited the aphid Aphis gossypii. It is thus import...

Indian Bt Cotton Varieties Do Not Affect the Performance of Cotton Aphids

Cotton varieties expressing Cry proteins derived from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are grown worldwide for the management of pest Lepidoptera. To prevent non-target pest outbreaks and to retain the biological control function provided by predators and parasitoids, the potential risk that Bt crops may pose to non-target arthropods is addressed prior to their commercialization. ...

The nutritional value of aphid honeydew for parasitoids of lepidopteran pests

Intake of sugar-rich foods by adult parasitoids is crucial for their reproductive success. This is an aspect of parasitoid biology that warrants special attention in the biological control of pests. Facilitating access to suitable foods might help optimize the efficacy of parasitoids as biological control agents. In situations where nectar is not readily available, homopteran honeydew can be a ...

Bacterial communities of the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii associated with Bt cotton in northern China.

Aphids are infected with a wide variety of endosymbionts that can confer ecologically relevant traits. However, the bacterial communities of most aphid species are still poorly characterized. This study investigated the bacterial diversity of the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii associated with Bt cotton in northern China by targeting the V4 region of the 16S rDNA using the Illumina MiSeq platform. ...

Bt COTTON IN INDIA