In previous studies, we demonstrated cross-antagonism in pheromone perception between pheromone components of the two corn (Zea mays L.) borers Sesamia nonagrioides Lefèbvre (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in the laboratory and in the field. The two pheromone components identified as responsible for this cross-antagonism were Z 11-16:Ald, a mino...

demographic parameters of the pink stem borer, sesamia creticalederer (lepidoptera: noctuidae) were estimatedon its two main host plants, maize and sugarcane. the present studywas conducted under laboratory conditions at 27±1˚c, 50±10% relative humidity (rh %), and a photoperiod of 0:24 (l:d) hour for the larval stage and 16:8 (l:d) hour for the other life stages. the raw data were analyzed bas...

A preliminary s~rvey was conducted to provide an esti~ate of the seventy of red rot (Glomerella tucumanensis) I~ vanous parts of the sugar industry. The incidence of this dIsea~e was greater in the higher altitude areas, with long growing cycles, and where crops were damaged by sesamia or eldana borers. The most severe case observed was 52% of stalks of NC0376 infected in a field at Kranskop. S...

Among the proposed mechanisms of local adaptation to different ecological environments, transcriptional changes may play an important role. In this study, we investigated whether such variability occurred within the chemosensory organs of a herbivorous insect, for which chemosensation guides most of its host preferences. A European and an African population of the noctuid Sesamia nonagrioides t...

Baseline susceptibility to the Cry1Ab delta-endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) was determined for four populations of Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefebvre) and two populations of Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) from Spain. This study shows that S. nonagrioides is at least as susceptible as O. nubilalis to B. thuringiensis Cry1Ab protein. We found small differences in susceptibility among th...