Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T13:44:32.609Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Development of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for the identification of common cutworm species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) infesting canola in western Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2017

Martin A. Erlandson ,
Jennifer Holowachuk ,
Edyta A. Sieminska ,
Jeremy Hummel ,
Jennifer Otani  and
Kevin D. Floate Open the ORCID record for Kevin D. Floate [Opens in a new window]
Martin A. Erlandson*
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 0X2, Canada
Jennifer Holowachuk
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 0X2, Canada
Edyta A. Sieminska
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 0X2, Canada Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, S7N 5E2, Canada
Jeremy Hummel
Affiliation:
Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, 51250, United States of America
Jennifer Otani
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Beaverlodge Research Farm, Beaverlodge, Alberta, T0H 0C0, Canada
Kevin D. Floate
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Lethbridge, Alberta, T1J 4B1, Canada
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cutworms (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) constitute an important insect pest complex that causes damage to a variety of crops across western Canada and particularly in canola (Brassica napus Linnaeus; Brassicaceae) crops in recent years. However, individual cutworms are very difficult to identify to species based on morphology alone, particularly at the larval stage. Problems with pest identification can lead to difficulties in recommending appropriate management strategies for specific cutworm infestations. In the current study we have developed and applied a single-step multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay, based on the rRNA ITS2 genomic sequence, which can be used to identify, to the species level, individuals of the following five key cutworm species: Agrotis orthogonia Morrison, Euxoa auxiliaris (Grote), Euxoa ochrogaster (Guenée), Feltia jaculifera (Guenée), and Lacinipolia renigera (Stephens). This molecular identification tool will be a valuable asset in agronomic and ecological studies of cutworm infestations in the canola cropping system across western Canada and potentially could be used as a timely identification tool for determining pest infestations to the species level during outbreaks.

Type
Techniques
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 149 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 540 - 548
Copyright
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Subject editor: Amanda Roe

References

Ayre, G.L. and Lamb, R.J. 1990. Life histories, flight patterns, and relative abundance of nine cutworms (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Manitoba. The Canadian Entomologist, 122: 1059–1070.Google Scholar
Ayre, G.L., Turnock, W.J., and Struble, D.L. 1982. Spatial and temporal variability in sex attractant trap catches of Euxoa messoria and E. ochrogaster (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in relation to their biology in Manitoba. The Canadian Entomologist, 114: 993–1001.Google Scholar
Beirne, B.P. 1971. Pest insects of annual crop plants in Canada: part I, Lepidoptera; II, Diptera; III, Coleoptera. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 103(Supplement S78): 1–124.Google Scholar
Byers, J.R. and Struble, D.L. 1987. Monitoring population levels of eight species of noctuids with sex-attractant traps in southern Alberta, 1978–1983: specificity of attractants and effect of target species abundance. The Canadian Entomologist, 119: 541–556.Google Scholar
Byers, J.R. and Struble, D.L. 1990. Identification of sex pheromones of two sibling species in the dingy cutworm complex, Feltia jaculifera (Gn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 16: 2981–2992.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byers, J.R., Struble, D.L., Herle, C.E., Kozub, G.C., and Lafontaine, J.D. 1990. Electroantennographic responses differentiate sibling species of dingy cutworm complex, Feltia jaculifera (Gn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 16: 2969–2980.Google Scholar
Byers, J.R., Yu, D.S., and Jones, W. 1993. Parasitism of the army cutworm, Euxoa auxiliaris (Grt.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, by Copidosoma bakeri (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and effect on crop damage. The Canadian Entomologist, 125: 329–335.Google Scholar
Canola Council of Canada. 2011. Learn to identify pest cutworms [online]. Available from www.canolawatch.org/2011/05/18/learn-to-identify-pest-cutworms [accessed 19 January 2017].Google Scholar
Dosdall, L. 2000. Western Committee on Crop Pests. Minutes of the 40th annual meeting, October 16, 2000, Moose Jaw, SK [online]. Pp. 76–78. Available from www.westernforum.org/Documents/WCCP/WCCP%20Minutes/WCCP2000minutes.pdf [accessed 18 April 2015].Google Scholar
Folmer, O., Black, M., Hoeh, W., Lutz, R., and Vrijenhoek, R. 1994. DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology, 3: 294–299.Google ScholarPubMed
Gariepy, T.D., Kuhlmann, U., Gillott, C., and Erlandson, M.A. 2008. A large-scale comparison of conventional and molecular methods for the evaluation of host-parasitoid associations in non-target risk-assessment studies. Journal of Applied Ecology, 45: 708–715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gariepy, T.D., Kuhlmann, U., Haye, T., Gillott, C., and Erlandson, M.A. 2005. A single-step multiplex PCR assay for the detection of European Peristenus spp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Parasitoids of Lygus spp. (Hemiptera: Miridae). Biocontrol Science and Technology, 15: 481–495.Google Scholar
Lafontaine, J.D. and Schmidt, B.C. 2010. Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico. ZooKeys, 40: 1–239.Google Scholar
Mason, P.G., Arthur, A.P., Olfert, O.O., and Erlandson, M.A. 1998. The bertha armyworm (Mamestra configurata) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in western Canada. The Canadian Entomologist, 130: 321–336.Google Scholar
McMillan, E. 1935. A survey of cutworm damage in a specimen locality in Saskatchewan. Journal of Economic Entomology, 28: 428–431.Google Scholar
Meers, S. 2011. Western Committee on Crop Pests. Minutes of the 51st annual meeting, October 16, 2012, Kelowna, BC [online]. Pp. 11, 16. Available from www.westernforum.org/Documents/WCCP/WCCP%20Minutes/WCCP%20MINUTES%20-%202011.pdf [accessed 18 April 2015].Google Scholar
Sperling, F., Byers, J.R., and Hickey, D. 1996. Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation among pheromotypes of the dingy cutworm, Feltia jaculifera (Gn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 70: 2109–2117.Google Scholar
Strickland, E.H. 1923. Biological notes on parasites of prairie cutworms. Dominion of Canada, Department of Agriculture, Bulletin, 24: 1–40.Google Scholar
Walkden, H.H. 1950. Cutworms, armyworms, and related species attacking cereal and forage crops in the central great plains. United States Department of Agriculture Circular 849. United States Department of Agriculture Entomology and Plant Quarantine Bureau, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.Google Scholar
Zahiri, R., Lafontaine, J.D., Schmidt, B.C., DeWaard, J.R., Zakharov, E.V., and Hebert, P.D.N. 2014. A transcontinental challenge – a test of DNA barcode performance for 1541 species of Canadian Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera). Public Library of Science One, 9: e92797.Google Scholar