Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seasonal Life History Adaptations of a Neotropical Corn Borer, Diatraea Grandiosella

  • Symposium III: Life-History Traits in Tropical Insects
  • Published:
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella, has expanded its range during this century so that it is now distributed between about 18 and 38°N latitude in Mexico and the United States. The species survives from year to year by entering a facultative larval diapause, and over most of its range it is bivoltine or trivoltine. Fully grown pre-diapausing larvae prepare an overwintering cell in the stalk crown of their host plant, typically maize, and then ecdyse from a spotted to a pigment-free morph at the onset of diapause. Southwestern corn borers originally obtained from southcentral Mexico (19°N latitude) and the United States (33-38°N latitude) were reared on an artificial diet under standardized conditions to compare several of their life history traits. Information is presented about voltinism, photoperiodic responses, growth and reproduction, larval behaviour and ecdyses, and the diapause-associated protein in an attempt to evaluate characteristics that have enabled the species to disperse from a tropical to a temperate region.

Résumé

L’aire de répartition du foreur du maïs, Diatraea grandiosella, s’est beaucoup élargie au cours de ce siècle, à tel point qu’elle s’étend maintenant entre 18°N et 38°N de latitude, au Mexique et aux Etats-Unis. L’espèce se maintient d’une année à l’autre grâce à une diapause facultative larvaire, et elle est bivoltine ou trivoltine sur la majeure partie de son aire de répartition. Les larves prédiapausantes complètement développées tissent un cocon à la base de la tige de leur plante-hôte, en général le maïs, puis muent, passant de la forme tâchetée à la forme immaculée, au début de la diapause. Des larves de D. grandiosella provenant du centre sud du Mexique (19°N latitude) et des Etats-Unis (33°N à 38°N de latitude) ont été élevées sur un milieu artificiel en conditions contrôlées, pour comparer quelques unes des particularités de leur cycle. Sont étudiés ici le voltinisme, les réponses photopériodiques, le développement et la reproduction, le comportement larvaire et les mues, et la protéine de diapause, en vue d’apprécier les caractéristiques qui ont permis à cette espèce de se répandre d’une région tropicale à une région tempérée.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abarca M., Iturbe A. C. and Caceres S. F. (1958) The sugarcane borers in Mexico. An attempt to control them through parasites. Proc. 10th Int. Congr. Ent. pp. 827–834.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown J. J. (1980) Haemolymph protein reserves of diapausing and nondiapausing codling moth larvae, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). J. Insect Physiol. 26, 487–491.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown J. J. and Chippendale G. M. (1978) Juvenile hormone and a protein associated with the larval diapause of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella. Insect Biochem. 8, 359–367.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chippendale G. M. (1978) Behavior associated with the larval diapause of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella: probable involvement of the juvenile hormone. Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 71, 901–905.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chippendale G. M. (1979) The southwestern corn borer: case history of an invading insect. Univ. Missouri-Columbia Agric. Exp. Stn. Res. Bull. no. 1031.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chippendale G. M. and Cassatt K. L. (1985) Case history of the southwestern corn borer. II. Annotated bibliography, 1977 to 1985. Misc. Publ. Ent. Soc. Am. no. 60, pp. 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chippendale G. M. and Reddy A. S. (1974) Diapause of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella: low temperature mortality and geographical distribution. Environ. Ent. 3, 233–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chippendale G. M. and Yin C.-M. (1976) Endocrine interactions controlling the larval diapause of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella. J. Insect Physiol. 22, 989–995.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Danthanarayana W. (1976) Environmentally cued size variation in the light-brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walk.) (Tortricidae), and its adaptive value in dispersal. Oecologia 26, 121–132.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis E. G., Horton J. R., Gable C. H., Walter E. V., Blanchard R. A. and Heinrich C. (1933) The south-western corn borer. USDA Tech. Bull. no. 388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis F. M. (1973) Calco Oil Red N-1700 for marking adults and eggs of the southwestern corn borer. Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 66, 1167–1168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denlinger D. L. (1986) Dormancy in tropic insects. A. Rev. Ent. 31, 239–264.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dillwith J. W. and Chippendale G. M. (1984) Purification and properties of a protein that accumulates in the fat body of pre-diapausing larvae of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella. Insect Biochem. 14, 369–381.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dingle H. and Baldwin J. D. (1983) Geographic variation in life histories: a comparison of tropical and temperate milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus). In Diapause and Life History Strategies in Insects (Edited by Brown V. K. and Hodek I.), pp. 143–165. Junk Publ., The Hague, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elias L. A. (1970) Maize resistance to stalk borers in Zeadiatraea Box and Diatraea Guilding at five localities in Mexico. Ph.D. Diss. Kansas State Univ. 172 pp. Univ. Microfilms no. 70-16, 627.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairchild M. L., Keaster A. J. and Burkhardt C. C. (1965) The southwestern corn borer, Proc. Hybrid Corn Industry-Research Conf. 20, 111–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanway J. J. (1971) How a corn plant develops. Iowa State Univ. Special Report no. 48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson C. A., Bennett S. E. and McQueen H. F. (1966) Known distribution of the southwestern corn borer in the United States. J. Econ. Ent. 59, 360–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson K. J. R. (1984) Identification of Eoreuma loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Texas, 1980: forerunner for other sugarcane boring pest immigrants from Mexico? Bull. Ent. Soc. Am. 30(3), 47–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellog W. W. and Schwäre R. (1982) Society, science and climate change. Foreign Affairs 60, 1076–1109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kikukawa S. and Chippendale G. M. (1983) Seasonal adaptations of populations of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella, from tropical and temperate regions. J. Insect Physiol. 29, 561–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kikukawa S., Dillwith J. W. and Chippendale G. M. (1984) Characteristics of larvae of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella, obtained from populations present in tropical and temperate regions. J. Insect Physiol. 30, 787–796.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mahmalji M. (1985) Investigation into the costs of entering diapause and the differences among three geographical populations of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella. Ph.D. Diss. Univ. Missouri 151 pp. Univ. Microfilms Int. no. DA 8611749.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peferoen M., Stynen D. and de Loof A. (1982) A reexamination of the protein pattern of the hemolymph of Leptinotarsa decemlineala, with special reference to vitellogenins and diapause proteins. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 72B, 345–351.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson N. S. and Mitchell H. K. (1985) Heat shock proteins. In Comprehensive Insect Physiology Biochemistry and Pharmacology (Edited by Kerkut G. A. and Gilbert L. I.), Vol. 10, pp. 347–365. Pergamon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolston L. H. (1955) The southwestern corn borer in Arkansas. Arkansas Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. no. 533.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonobe H. and Odake H. (1986) Studies on embryonic diapause in the pnd mutant of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. V. Identification of a pnd+ gene-specific protein. Roux’s Arch. Dev. Biol. 195, 229–235.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takeda M. and Chippendale G. M. (1982) Phenological adaptations of a colonizing insect: the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella. Oecologia 53, 386–393.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tanguay R. M. (1983) Genetic regulation during heat shock and function of heat-shock proteins: a review. Can. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 61, 387–394.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tauber M. J., Tauber C. A. and Masaki S. (1986) Seasonal Adaptations of Insects. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turunen S. and Chippendale G. M. (1980) Fat body protein associated with the larval diapause of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella: synthesis and characteristics. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 65B, 595–603.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Usua E. J. (1970) Diapause in the maize stemborer. J. Econ. Ent. 63, 1605–1610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilbur D. A., Bryson H. R. and Painter R. H. (1942) A major outbreak of the southwestern corn borer in Kansas. J. Econ. Ent. 35, 938–939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilbur D. A., Bryson H. R. and Painter R. H. (1950) Southwestern corn borer in Kansas. Kansas Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. no. 339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yagi S. and Fukaya M. (1974) Juvenile hormone as the key factor regulating larval diapause of the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis. Appl. Ent. Zool. 9, 247–255.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zepp D. B. and Keaster A. J. (1977) Effects of corn plant densities on the girdling behaviour of the southwestern corn borer. J. Econ. Ent. 70, 678–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA

    G. M. Chippendale & M. Z. Mahmalji

Authors
  1. G. M. Chippendale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Z. Mahmalji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chippendale, G.M., Mahmalji, M.Z. Seasonal Life History Adaptations of a Neotropical Corn Borer, Diatraea Grandiosella. Int J Trop Insect Sci 8, 501–506 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742758400022542

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742758400022542

Key Words

Mots Cléfs

Search

Navigation