Assessing the role of non-cotton refuges in delaying Helicoverpa armigera resistance to Bt cotton in West Africa.

ABSTRACT: Non-cotton host plants without Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins can provide refuges that delay resistance to Bt cotton in polyphagous insect pests. It has proven difficult, however, to determine the effective contribution of such refuges and their role in delaying resistance evolution. Here, we used biogeochemical markers to quantify movement of Helicoverpa armigera moths from non-cotton hosts to cotton fields in three agricultural landscapes of the West African cotton belt (Cameroon) where Bt cotton was absent. We show that the contribution of non-cotton hosts as a source of moths was spatially and temporally variable, but at least equivalent to a 7.5% sprayed refuge of non-Bt cotton. Simulation models incorporating H. armigera biological parameters, however, indicate that planting non-

SUBMITTER: Brevault T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3353336 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature