Calatayud, Paul-André

Khadioli, N.

Le Ru, Bruno

Musyoka, B.

Okuku, G.

Ong'amo, G.

Name not available

Busseola segata, a potential new pest of maize in Western Kenya

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Busseola segeta, a Potential New Pest of Maize in Western Kenya
Calatayud P-A1,2*, Okuku G1, Musyoka B1, Khadioli N1, Ong’amo G1,3 and Le Ru B1,2
1Research Institute for Development (IRD), UR 072, c/o icipe (African Insect Science for Food and Health), PO Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya
2UPR9034 CNRS, Laboratoire Evolution, Genomes and Speciation/Université Paris-Sud 11, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
3School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, PO Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya
*Corresponding author: Calatayud P-A, Research Institute for Development (IRD), UR 072, c/o icipe (African Insect Science for Food and Health), Nairobi, Kenya, Tel:
+254 (20) 8632161; E-mail: pcalatayud@icipe.org
Rec date: Jul 15, 2014; Acc date: Jul 22, 2014; Pub date: Jul 24, 2014
Copyright: © 2014 Calatayud PA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords: Africa; Stem borers; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae; Poaceae;
Zea mays.
Introduction
In sub-Saharan Africa, Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera,
Noctuidae) is considered as one of the major stem borer pests of maize
(Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) [1]. Recent surveys in
Western Kenya indicated the presence of another Busseola species on
maize, Busseola segeta Bowden (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) [2,3].
Busseola segeta can develop on at least nine host plants, including
Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), maize and sorghum spp. [4].
We investigated the composition of stem borer pest communities in a
cultivated plot in Western Kenya in a location known to cultivate
maize continuously throughout the year.
Materials and Methods
A plot situated in Keroka (S00°46.216’, E34°58.788’, 2223 m), Kisii
district (Kenya), which was planted with maize every year, was
monitored four times in 2001, twice in 2003, and four times in 2012.
The farmer planted the maize in a random fashion every year.
Field infestations were estimated by inspecting 100 randomly
selected maize plants for stem borer infestation symptoms or damages.
Infested plants were characterised by scarified leaves, dry leaves and
shoots (dead hearts), frass and holes [3]. Infested plants were dissected
for recovery of stem borer larvae and pupae.
The larvae were reared on artificial diet developed by Onyango and
Ochieng’ Odero [5] in cylindrical glass vials (diameter, 2.5 cm; height,
7.5 cm). Rearing vials were plugged with cotton wool and maintained
under ambient conditions in the laboratory until pupation (26 ± 1°C;
65 ± 5% relative humidity). Pupae from the diet or maize stems were
kept in separate plastic jars (16 cm × 10 cm) closed with perforated
plastic lids until emergence of moths. Emerging moths were identified
at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe,
Nairobi, Kenya). The percentage infestations, the stem borer density
per stem, and the relative importance of a stem borer species in
percent were calculated.
The different field visits per year were considered as replicates.
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done for each parameter
between years and means were separated by pairwise Tukey’s contrast
test after ANOVA. Data on stem borer density was log-transformed
whereas all data on percentages were arcsin-transformed.
Untransformed results are presented in the table. The statistics were
done using R (http://www.r-project.org/).
Results and Discussion
Percentage infestations, stem borer densities and the relative
importance of species not belonging to Busseola spp. did not vary
significantly between years (Table 1). However, the relative
importance of B. fusca found in infested maize plants decreased
significantly whereas that of B. segeta increased with time, suggesting a
displacement of B. fusca by B. segeta in that area. Such displacement of
B. fusca by another Lepidoptera stem borer species, an important
introduced pest of maize in Africa, Chilo partellus (Lepidoptera:
Crambidae), has been previously reported [6].
Years %
infestation
Stem borer
density per
stem
%
Busseola
fusca
%
Busseola
segeta
%
other
species
2001 14.5±7.3a 0.45±0.37a 84.4±31.2b 0a 15.6±31.2a
2003 31.5±14.8a 1.15±1.06a 70.0±19.5b 13.6±1.4b 16.5±18.1a
2012 14.0±0.8a 0.52±0.17a 30.9±3.5a 61.9±11.4c 7.2±11.2a
Results of
ANOVA
F2,7 2.499 1.275 10.62 265.3
P 0.152 0.337 0.00759 < 0.0001
Table 1: Percentages of infestation stem borer density per stem and the
relative importance of the different species in percent found in 2001,
2003 and 2012. Within each column, means followed by the same
letter are not significantly different at 5% according to the Tukey’s
contrast test (lines comparisons within each column).
The present results confirm the presence of B. segeta on maize crop
in Western Kenya as already reported in earlier studies [2,3]. Ong’amo
et al. [2] reported the presence of B. segeta on maize in the Kakamega
forest in Western Kenya, but it was of low relative importance
compared to B. fusca. This could be the result of the presence of a wide
range of alternative hosts in the area [2,3]. By contrast, in Keroka, the
surface of wild habitats is low compared to that planted with maize,
which could have caused a host switch. Such host switch from wild
habitat to cultivated habitat has been reported for another Lepidoptera
stem borer, an important pest of sugarcane, Eldana saccharina
(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), which switched from Cyperus papyrus to
sugarcane in South Africa [7].
However the question arises if B. segeta can be considered as a new
pest of maize. Further field studies are required to assess yield losses
caused by B. segeta.
The fact that B. segeta can infest maize plant is an important
information to take into account for any further management program
Entomology, Ornithology &
Herpetology: Current Research Calatayud et al., Entomol Ornithol Herpetol 2014,3:3http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2161-0983.1000132
Case Report Open Access
Entomol Ornithol Herpetol
ISSN:2161-0983 EOH: CR an open access journal Volume 3 • Issue 3 • 1000132
aimed at controlling Lepidoptera stem borers infesting of maize in the
region and for the planned introduction of maize GMO in Kenya
(CIMMYT, personal information).
Acknowledgement
We thank the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IRD (Institut de
Recherche pour le Développement) and icipe (Nairobi, Kenya) for
financial support and Fritz Schulthess for his review.
References
1. Kfir R, Overholt WA, Khan ZR, Polaszek A (2002) Biology and
management of economically important lepidopteran cereal stem borers
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3. Ong’amo GO, Le Ru BP, Calatayud P-A, Silvain J-F (2013) Composition
of stem borer communities in selected vegetation mosaics in Kenya.
Arthropod-Plant Interactions 7: 267-275.
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the African maize stalk borer, Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
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5. Onyango FO, Ochieng’ Odero JPR (1994) Continuous rearing of the
maize stem borer Busseola fusca on an artificial diet. Entomol Exp Appl
73:139–144.
6. Kfir R (1997) Competitive displacement of Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera:
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Citation: Calatayud PA, Okuku G, Musyoka B, Khadioli N, Ong’amo G (2014) Busseola segeta, a Potential New Pest of Maize in Western
Kenya. Entomol Ornithol Herpetol 3: 132. doi:10.4172/2161-0983.1000132
Page 2 of 2
Entomol Ornithol Herpetol
ISSN:2161-0983 EOH: CR an open access journal Volume 3 • Issue 3 • 1000132


Busseola segata, a potential new pest of maize in Western Kenya

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