Managing arthropod pests in cereals

Contributions by: Marion O. Harris and Kirk Anderson, North Dakota State University, USA; Mustapha El-Bouhssini, ICARDA, Morocco; Frank Peairs, Colorado State University, USA; Gary Hein, University of Nebraska, USA; and Steven Xu, USDA-ARS Northern Crops Institute, USA; Erin W. Hodgson and Ashley N. Dean, Iowa State University, USA; Anders Huseth, North Carolina State University, USA; and William D. Hutchison, University of Minnesota, USA; Sanford D. Eigenbrode, Subodh Adhikari and Arash Rashed, University of Idaho, USA

Description

This collection features three peer-reviewed reviews on managing arthropod pests in cereals.

The first chapter discusses key arthropod pests of cereals, including Hessian fly, orange wheat blossom midge, bird cherry oat aphid, greenbug, Russian wheat aphid, sunn pest, wheat stem sawfly and wheat curl mite. The chapter provides a detailed case study for each arthropod pest, exploring the pest’s life cycle, its host plants and status as a wheat pest, best practices for managing populations, as well as our current understanding of plant susceptibility and plant resistance.

The second chapter highlights the economic importance of corn/maize to the United States economy, citing that around 37.7 million hectares of land was used to grow the crop in 2021. As a result of its economic contribution, farmers are required to have an informed understanding of important pest species affecting the crop. The chapter considers recent advances in monitoring of native and invasive pests of corn and includes case studies on the European corn borer, corn earworm, western bean cutworm and corn rootworm to demonstrate the effective implementation of insect pest monitoring systems.

The final chapter reviews the recent emergence of the Fescue aphid/grass aphid as an invasive pest of small grains outside of its native range of western Europe and the British Isles. The chapter considers the biology and management of the pest, its appearance and identification, its pest status and damage, as well as its potential for host plant resistance.

Key Features

• Emphasises the dominance of corn production to the US economy, as well as the potential economic risks which can arise as a result of arthropod infestations
• Provides a comprehensive overview of the key arthropod pests affecting cereal production in the US and Europe through the inclusion of several detailed case studies
• Reviews the impact of invasive pests of small grains and considers the role of insect pest monitoring technologies in mitigating future reoccurrences

Publication Date: 21/11/2023