ARS studies showed that moths without this enzyme survived while eating a Bt diet. Earlier studies showed that some of these insects adapt to the toxin by altering a receptor in the gut. Now, they've found yet another way for the moths to resist Bt. While no immediate solution is at hand, this new information allows scientists to re-think current management strategies that are based on a single mechanism of resistance. Bt is a natural soil bacterium that has been used for 35 years as an alternative to chemical insecticides.
Indianmeal moths are among the worst pests in stored products, primarily attacking corn and peanuts.
A tiny parasitic fly could mean big trouble for corn earworms that ravage corn, cotton and other crops. Results from a 3-year pilot study indicate releasing the flies into a crop field can put a sizable dent in corn earworm numbers. Corn earworms and fall armyworm caterpillars, its natural prey, are the most destructive insect crop pests in the Southeast. A. marmoratus flies don't kill the pests directly, but use them as room and board for their maggot offspring. The fly deposits the speck-sized maggots on or near the caterpillar pests.