Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:03:33.041Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The ecology of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Riverina region of south-eastern Australia and the implications for tactical and strategic management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2007

S.J. Duffield*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Entomology, PMB 3, Griffith, NSW 2680, Australia
A.P. Steer
Affiliation:
CSIRO Entomology, PMB 3, Griffith, NSW 2680, Australia
*
*Address for correspondence: Natural England, Government Building, Coley Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 6DE, UK Fax: 01189 392216 E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Decisions on the choice of appropriate tactical and strategic control techniques require an understanding of the seasonal distribution and ecology of the target species. To address this need, data were collected from 1997 to 2000 using crop surveys, field sampling and pheromone trapping to monitor the population trends of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) and H. punctigera (Wallengren) in the Riverina region of south-eastern Australia. The data gathered are compared to predictions from the HElicoverpa Armigera and Punctigera Simulation (HEAPS) model, that simulates Helicoverpa population dynamics to assist in identifying the drivers of regional populations and provide a framework to make informed decisions. The results highlight the contrasting seasonal dynamics of H. punctigera and H. armigera within the region. Helicoverpa punctigera populations peak in the spring, driven by large scale spring migration into the region and subsequently decline. Helicoverpa armigera populations, conversely, are characterized by a period of spring recruitment of adults from overwintering pupae within the region, followed by a within-season population increase leading to severe late season pressure. The within-season increase of H. armigera is a result of the succession of crop and non-crop hosts with the main driver being sequentially sown, unsprayed maize. Tactical and strategic management options are discussed in light of these findings.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adamson, D., Thomas, G. & Davis, E. (1997) An economic estimate of Helicoverpa's effect on Australian agricultural production. 108 pp. Brisbane, CRC for Tropical Pest Management.Google Scholar
Dillon, M.L & Fitt, G.P. (1990) HEAPS: a regional model of Heliothis population dynamics. pp. 337344 in Proceedings of the Fifth Australian Cotton Conference, 8–9 August 1990, Broadbeach, Queensland. Australian Cotton Growers Research Association.Google Scholar
Duffield, S.J. (1998) Pest management of Helicoverpa in the Riverina – using the tools at our disposal. pp. 4956 in Zalucki, M., Drew, R. & White, G. (Eds) Pest management – future challenges. Brisbane, The University of Queensland Printery.Google Scholar
Duffield, S.J. (2004) Evaluation of the risk of overwintering Helicoverpa spp. pupae under irrigated summer crops in south-eastern Australia and the potential for area-wide management. Annals of Applied Biology 144, 1726.Google Scholar
Duffield, S.J. & Dillon, M.L. (2005) The emergence and control of overwintering Helicoverpa armigera pupae in southern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Entomology 44, 316320.Google Scholar
Duffield, S.J. & Jordan, S.L. (2000) An evaluation of insecticides for the control of Helicoverpa punctigera (Wallengren) and H. armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on soybean, and the implications for field adoption. Australian Journal of Entomology 39, 322327.Google Scholar
Duffield, S.J., Winder, L. & Chapple, D.G. (2005) Calibration of sampling techniques and determination of sample size for the estimation of egg and larval populations of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on irrigated soybean. Australian Journal of Entomology 44, 293298.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P. (1989) The ecology of Heliothis species in relation to agroecosytems. Annual Review of Entomology 34, 1752.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P. (1994) Cotton pest management. Part 3. An Australian perspective. Annual Review of Entomology 39, 543562.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P. (2000) An Australian approach to IPM in cotton: integrating new technologies to minimise insecticide dependence. Crop Protection 19, 793800.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P. & Cotter, S.C. (2005) The Helicoverpa problem in Australia: biology and management. In Sharma, H.C. (Ed.) Heliothis/Helicoverpa management: emerging trends and strategies for future research. New Delhi, Oxford and IBH Publishing.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P. & Daly, J.C. (1988) The overwintering foe: winter populations of Heliothis in cotton growing areas and the importance of stubble cultivation. pp. 1323 in Proceedings of the Fourth Australian Cotton Conference, August 1988, Surfers Paradise, Queensland. Australian Cotton Growers Research Association.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P & Daly, J.C. (1990) Abundance of overwintering pupae and the spring generation of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on northern New South Wales, Australia: implications for pest management. Journal of Economic Entomology 83, 18271836.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P., Murray, D.A.H., Dillon, M. & Daly, J.C. (1993) Overwintering Heliothis pupae and the importance of cotton stubble cultivation. Australian Cotton Grower 14, 5052.Google Scholar
Fitt, G.P., Dillon, M.L. & Hamilton, J.G. (1995) Spatial dynamics of Helicoverpa populations in Australia: simulation modelling and empiral studies of adult movement. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 13, 177192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forrester, N.W. (1990) Designing, implementing and servicing an insecticide resistance management strategy. Pesticide Science 28, 167179.Google Scholar
Forrester, N.W., Cahill, M., Bird, L.J. & Layland, J.K. (1993) Management of pyrethroids and endosulfan resistance in Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Australia. Bulletin of Entomological Research Supplement 1, 1132.Google Scholar
Gregg, P.C. & Wilson, A.G.L. (1991) Trapping methods for adults. pp. 3048 in Zalucki, M.P. (Ed.) Heliothis: research methods and prospects. New York, Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Gregg, P.C., Fitt, G.P., Zalucki, M.P. & Twine, P.H. (1990) Evidence for spring migration of Heliothis spp. from inland Australia to cotton areas. pp. 327–335 in Proceedings of the Fifth Australian Cotton Conference, 8–9 August 1990, Broadbeach, Queensland. Australian Cotton Growers Research Organization.Google Scholar
Grundy, P.R., Sequeira, R.V. & Short, K.S. (2004) Evaluating legume species as alternative trap crops to chickpea for management of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in central Queensland cotton cropping systems. Bulletin of Entomological Research 94, 481486.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunning, R.V., Moores, G.D. & Devonshire, A.L. (1996) Insensitive acetycholinesterase and resistance to thiodicarb in Australian Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology 55, 2128.Google Scholar
Hertel, K. & Woodlands, K. (1999) Insect and mite control in field crops 1999. NSW Agrculture, Orange, Agdex 102/620.Google Scholar
Jallow, M.F.A. & Zalucki, M.P. (1996) Within- and between-population variation in host-plant preference and specificity in Australian Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 44, 503519.Google Scholar
Knipling, E.F. & Stadelbacher, E.A. (1983) The rationale of area-wide management of Heliothis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) populations. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 29, 2937.Google Scholar
Maelzer, D.A. & Zalucki, M.P. (1999) Analysis of long-term light-trap data for Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Australia: the effect of climate and crop host plants. Bulletin of Entomological Research 89, 455463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maelzer, D.A., Zalucki, M.P., Laughlin, R. (1996) Analysis and interpretation of long term light trap data for Helicoverpa punctigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Australia: population changes and forecasting pest pressure. Bulletin of Entomological Research 86, 547557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mensah, R.K. (1999) Habitat diversity: implications for the conservation and use of predatory insects of Helicoverpa spp. in cotton systems in Australia. International Journal of Pest Management 45, 91100.Google Scholar
Murray, D.A.H., Marshall, J. & Lloyd, R.J. (1995) Cultivation leaves overwintering pupae out in the cold. Australian Cotton Grower. March–April, 16–18.Google Scholar
Murray, D.A.H., Lloyd, R.J. & Hopkinson, J.E. (2005a) Efficacy of new insecticides for management of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Australian grain crops. Australian Journal of Entomology 44, 6267.Google Scholar
Murray, D.A.H., Miles, M.M., McLennan, A.J., Lloyd, R.J. & Hopkinson, J.E. (2005b) Area-wide management of Helicoverpa spp. in an Australian mixed cropping agroecosystem. Proceedings of the Beltwide Cotton Conferences, 4–7 January, New Orleans, Louisiana. National Cotton Council of America.Google Scholar
Oertel, A., Zalucki, M.P., Maelzer, D.A., Fitt, G.P. & Sutherst, R. (1999) Size of the first spring generation of Helicoverpa punctigera (Wallengren) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and winter rain in central Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 38, 99103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, S. & Zalucki, M.P. (2005) Does the cutting of lucerne (Medicago sativa) encourage the movement of arthropod pests and predators into the adjacent crop? Australian Journal of Entomology 44, 219225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raulston, J.R., Pair, S.D., Loera, J., Sparks, A.N., Wolf, W.W., Westbrook, J.K. & Fitt, G.P., Rogers, C.E. (1992) Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) pupa production in fruiting corn in northeast Mexico and south Texas. Environmental Entomology 21, 13931397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raulston, J.R., Pair, S.D., Lingren, P.D., Hendrix, W.H. & Shaver, T.N. (1998) The role of population dynamics in the development of control strategies for adult Helicoverpa zea and other Noctuidae. Southwestern Entomologist 21, 2535.Google Scholar
Roach, S.H. (1981) Emergence of overwintered Heliothis spp. moths from three different tillage systems. Environmental Entomology 10, 817818.Google Scholar
Rochester, W.A. (1999) The migration systems of Helicoverpa punctigera (Wallengren) and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Australia, PhD thesis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Rochester, W.A., Dillon, M.L., Fitt, G.P. & Zalucki, M.P. (1996) A simulation model of the long-distance migration of Helicoverpa spp. moths. Ecological Modelling 86, 151156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scholz, B., Cleary, A. & Lloyd, R. (2002) The value of unsprayed strip crops as nurseries for beneficials in dryland cotton on the Darling Downs. pp. 307314 in Proceedings of the Eleventh Australian Cotton Conference, 13–15 August 2002, Brisbane, Queensland. Australian Cotton Growers Research Association.Google Scholar
Scott, K.D., Wilkinson, K.S, Merritt, M.A., Scott, L.J., Lange, C.L., Schutze, M.K., Kent, J.K., Merritt, D.J., Grundy, P.R., & Graham, G.C. (2003) Genetic shifts in Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) over a year in the Dawson/Callide Valleys. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 54, 739744.Google Scholar
Sequeira, R. (2001) Inter-seasonal population dynamics and cultural management of Helicoverpa spp. in a Central Queensland cropping system. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 41, 249259.Google Scholar
Sequeira, R.V. & Playford, C.L. (2001) Abundance of Helicoverpa (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) pupae under cotton and other crops in central Queensland: implications for resistance management. Australian Journal of Entomology 40, 264–260.Google Scholar
Sykes, J.D. & Goodyer, G. (1994) Insect control in summer crops 1993–4. NSW Agriculture, Orange, Agdex 100/614.Google Scholar
Wardhaugh, K.G. & Room, P.M. (1980) The incidence of Heliothis armigera (Hübner) and H. punctigera (Wallengren) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on cotton and other host-plants in the Namoi Valley of New South Wales. Bulletin of Entomological Research 70, 113131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zalucki, M.P., Daglish, G., Firempong, S. & Twine, P. (1986) The biology and ecology of Heliothis armigera (Hübner) and H. punctigera (Wallengren) (Lepidoptera; Noctuidae) in Australia. What do we know? Australian Journal of Zoology 34, 779814.Google Scholar