His research shows female moths are less likely to leave irrigated than dryland cornfields to mate. These findings are important to resistance management strategies designed to preserve Bt corns effectiveness. IANR researchers conducted marker-recapture studies to track European corn borer moth movements. USDA's Crop Insects and Crop Genetics Research Unit in Iowa fed larvae diets containing red or blue dyes that change their color and help distinguish released moths from wild ones. Larvae show the colors of their diet.
Hunt removes a pupae from a cardboard ring that researchers place in fields.
A blue tarp keeps rain off cardboard rings containing marked pupae at a cornfield release site from which about 15,000 moths emerge. This black light trap is one of about 40 that researchers place around fields where marked moths emerge. In these studies, more than 95 percent of unmated females were captured within a quarter mile of where they were released. Back at the lab, remnants of red or blue coloring on the released moths allow scientists to identify them.