Author(s)

Vilmar Bueno Dos Santos¹, Luciana Barboza Silva¹, Eliane Carneiro^1*, Alexandre Faria Silva¹, Gleidyane Novais Lopes¹, Bruno Ettore Pavan², Thiago Ferreira Rodrigues¹

¹Postgraduate Program in Plant Science Agronomy, Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI), Bom Jesus, Piauí.
²FacultyofEngineering UNESP Ilha Solteira, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Ilha Solteira, Brasil.

Studies on the behavior of Helicoverpa armigera in relation to soybean cultivars expressing Bt proteins are fundamentally important for IPM. We determine the no-choice and feeding choice of H. armigera, the no-choice and oviposition choice in different Bt and non-Bt soybeans cultivars. In the first step it was carried out the experiment to determine the no-choice and food choice in test for 12 Bt and non-Bt soybean cultivars. Simultaneously the consumption was determined. In a second step it was evaluated the no-choice and oviposition choice in different soybean cultivars. Helicoverpa armigera caterpillars showed neither attractiveness and preference for food nor attractiveness and oviposition preference for Bt and non-Bt soybean leaves when simultaneously contrasting the tested cultivars. This study showed that Bt toxin did not influence the oviposition preference, and H. armigera adults did not differentiate Bt and non-Bt soybean cultivars for oviposition indicating no behavioral preference. Third instar caterpillars showed no discrimination between Bt and non-Bt soybean leaves. Research in this area must focus on the possibility of widespread planting of genetically modified soybeans containing the Bt protein, which is associated with selection pressure and the behavior of pest species in relation to their hosts, as well as on the adequacy of management tactics that is able to prevent the loss of technology efficiency.

Cry1Ac Protein, Genetically Modified Plants, Food Preference, Oviposition

Santos, V. , Silva, L. , Carneiro, E. , Silva, A. , Lopes, G. , Pavan, B. and Rodrigues, T. (2017) Comparative Study of Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Preference for Bt and Non-Bt Soybean Cultivars. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 8, 2483-2500. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2017.810169.