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Generational growth rate estimates of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera populations (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

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Abstract

Modelling population dynamics of the maize pest Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (western corn rootworm; Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) requires knowledge on the growth rate (=net reproductive rate) of the species. We investigated the generational (=annual) growth rate of D. v. virgifera in isolated maize fields in southern Hungary and eastern Croatia over several years. The population densities of D. v. virgifera were assessed by absolute counts of emerging adults in 90 gauze cages per study field. Emergence ranged from 1.3 to 30.7 adults per m2 in continuous maize field sections, and from 0.3 to 5.1 adults per m2 in adjacent first-year maize sections. The annual growth rates of D. v. virgifera ranged from 0.5 to 13, and averaged in close to 4. These experimentally assessed growth rates could complement growth estimates in population dynamic models, particularly those for forecasting the population growth to economic thresholds or for estimating population build-ups after new introductions of this alien species in Europe. As an example, the determined growth rate was used to estimate that the first documented successful introduction of this species into Europe occurred between 1979 and 1984, which is 8–13 years before the detection of this species and its larval damage in maize fields near Belgrade, Serbia, in 1992.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Bayar Khosbayar (Szent Istvan University, Hungary), Zoltán Papp and Fundi Ltd. (Subotica, Serbia) as well as Kiril Ljikar and Tomislav Grgić (Agrotovarnik Company, Tovarnik, Croatia) for technical support, providing study fields and for constructing emergence cages; and Andrea Harnos and Zsolt Lang (Szent Istvan University, Hungary) for statistical advice. We further thank C. Richard Edwards (Purdue University, IN, USA) for help in developing the experimental outline. Ivan Sivčev provided valuable information about the introduction of D. v. virgifera into Serbia. Patricia Wells (Rothamsted Research, UK) and Paul Abram (Carleton University, Canada) kindly reviewed the manuscript. Funding was provided by the EU Project (DIABROTICA, QLK5-CT-1999-01110), FAO WCR Network LoA no PR 19713 and the PhD program of Szent Istvan University, Hungary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Szent István University, Plant Protection Institute, Páter K. u. 1, 2103, Gödöllő, Hungary

    Márk Szalai, Judit Papp Komáromi, József Kiss & Stefan Toepfer

  2. Department of Agricultural Zoology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Renata Bažok

  3. Chromos-agro Company, Žitnjak bb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Jasminka Igrc Barčić

  4. CABI Europe-Switzerland, c/o Plant Protection and Soil Conservation Directorate, Rárósi út 110, 6800, Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary

    Stefan Toepfer

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  1. Márk Szalai
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  2. Judit Papp Komáromi
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  4. Jasminka Igrc Barčić
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  5. József Kiss
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  6. Stefan Toepfer
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Correspondence to Stefan Toepfer.

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Communicated by M. Traugott.

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Szalai, M., Papp Komáromi, J., Bažok, R. et al. Generational growth rate estimates of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera populations (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). J Pest Sci 84, 133–142 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-010-0336-z

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