About 27 years ago, the species with invasive status (at that time) called the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Le Conte) (Insecta: Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was reported in the corn crops in western Romania. It has expanded considerably since then, so that today it is considered an installed species with double damage, of the adult in the aerial part and the larva in the root. However, the studies have stopped, but the pest continues to cause damage to corn crops (a plant useful for human food and as a basis for feeding various farmed animals). That is why we proposed to update the situation of monitoring the populations and the damages produced in Timis county by analyzing some crops with corn hybrids from different categories of maturity by installing sticky yellow traps and direct observations, in 2 years (2022-2023). Thus, we found that the late hybrid attracted more adults and was much more affected in the silks, cobs and panicle compared to the early one which was affected in the leaves and attracted fewer adults. Also, characteristic bent plants as a sign of larval attack were more present in the early hybrid. The efficiency of the traps was taken into account with the double role of capturing and ecological control of adults. As a conclusion, the pest is still present in crops from July to October, and keeping it under control can also be done by using sticky traps available on the market.

corn, monitoring, western corn rootworm, damage, traps, control

agronomy

Presentation: poster