Generalist Predator Consumption of Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Effect of Predator Removal on Damage in No-Till Corn

Abstract

Consumption of armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta Haworth, by generalist predators and the role of generalist predators in protecting corn plants from armyworm feeding damage were evaluated in laboratory feeding trials and in a predator-removal field study, respectively. Thirteen of the fifteen taxa evaluated in the laboratory feeding trials fed upon armyworm larvae. The highest consumption rates were exhibited by the carabids Pterostichus chalcites Say, Pterostichus lucublandus Say, and Scarites subterraneus F.; the staphylinid, Platydracus maculosus Gravenhorst; and the lycosid, Lycosa helluo Walckenaer. The most common potential armyworm predators removed from the field with pitfall traps included ground beetles (Carabidae), rove beetles (Staphylinidae), ants (Formicidae), and spiders (Araneae). Armyworm damage to corn plants was significantly greater where generalist predators were removed using pitfall traps and exclusion arenas than in the control where predator populations were unaltered.