Sugar Cane Stalk Borer in the Caribbean Trevor Falloon SIRI Kendal Road
The Caribbean
History Sugarcane brought by Columbus in 1493 First planted in Dominican Republic First New World mill started in 1516 For approximately 150 years (middle 17 th to start of 19 th Century) Caribbean the World s leading exporter 1805 - Jamaica Worlds largest exporter (100,000 tons)
Stalk Borers Previously subsisted on corn and other grasses Shifted to cane following introduction to the region
Stalk Borers Diatraea saccharalis Fabricius, West Indies, Venezuela, Mexico, Guyana, Colombia, Florida, Texas D. crambidoides Grote, Florida D. minimifacta Dyar, Trinidad, Venezuela, Cayenne D. pittieri Box, Venezuela D. tabernella Fabricius, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Colombia
Stalk Borers D veracruzana Box Mexico D. indiginella Dyar and Heinrich Colombia D. magnifactella Dyar Mexico D. considerata Heinrich Mexico D. albicrinella Box Guyana D. buskckella Dyar and Heinrich Colombia, Venezuela
Stalk Borers D. impersonatella Walker, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela D. centrella Moschler, Guyana, Venezuela, Surinam, Cayenne D. grandiosella Dyar, Mexico D. muellerella Dyar and Heinrich, i Mexico D. lineolata, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Panama, Venezuela
Stalk Borers D. rosa Heinrich, Venezuela D. guatemalella Schaus, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica Castniomera licus (Castnia licoides), Guyana Eoreuma (Acigona) loftini i in Mexico, USA
Species Distribution ib tion Venezuela 5 species Jamaica, Dom Rep, St Kitts, Barbados - 1 species (Diatraea saccharalis)
Borer Impact Martorell and Bangdiwala, (1954) Puerto Rico 0.35% sucrose loss for every 1% internodes bored Chinloy (1954) Jamaica 0.23% sucrose loss Ingram and Dugas (1946) Louisiana 0.75% sucrose loss Mathes and Charpentier (1963) 1.6% sucrose loss
Borer Impact Van Dine (1912) Yield loss (not quantified) Reduced stalk weight from destruction of inner tissues, growth retardation, non- germination of damaged eyes, loss of early shoots (dead hearts)
Damage Levels els Grenada 50% internode damage (now out of sugar) La Primavera mill, Mexico >60% (closed) from D. considerata,, primarily, E. loftini, D. grandiosella and D. saccharalis Fewkes et al (1966) higher h damage in the Northern Division than Southern Division of Caroni Ltd, Trinidad Jamaica higher damage Irrigated area - Irrigated 10-12%, 12%, Rain-fed <5%
Control ol Florida, Louisiana, chemical and biological exploit over-wintering resting phase Most industries Bio-control
Bio-control ol Agents Egg parasites: Trichogramma Indigenous Larval parasites, Tachinid flies Northern Caribbean Lixophaga diatraeae (Cuban Fly) and Agathis stigmaterus Southern Caribbean Paratheresia claripalpis, p Lidella (Metagonistylum) minense (Amazon Fly) Exchange between North & South
Cotesia Programmes 1966 Cotesia flavipes imported to Barbados from India Damage levels fell from 15.7 to 9.7 in two years 1970 Damage = 5.9% Economic damage threshold h = 5%
Cotesia Programmes Jamaica imported Cotesia flavipes 1970-7272 Reared released until 1975 No establishment Resumed ed programme 1980 Establishment at Rowington 1983 Trinidad C. flavipes established 1974 C. flavipes now in most countries in the Region Rapidly became dominant parasitic species
Bio-control ol Venezuela 5 years of releases before field establishment of C. flavipes Then rapid spread across country Dom Rep 3 years of direct importation (from Guatemala) and release No field establishment, t discontinued d
Rearing Labs Now a Parasitoid Industry Output millions Brazil, Guatemala, Cuba Cuba - 74 labs, part of network of 220 producing various parasitoids and pathogens Guyana six labs
Results Failure to establish Amazon fly and P. claripalpis in Northern Caribbean Strong augmentative release programmes with Cuban fly Limited success with Cuban fly in Southern Caribbean C. flavipes plays prominent role throughout Caribbean
Results C. flavipes more successful against D. saccharalis than other species. D. centrella encapsulates eggs of C. flavipes Allorhogas pyralophagus performs well in lab only Pediobius furvus,, pupal parasite - St Kitts? - Failed elsewhere
Jamaican Results Immediately after establishment 1983 Parasitism in the Industry Pre-establishment establishment - 21.6% Post-establishment s e t - 37.4% (3 yrs) Rowington (30%) C. flavipes dominant species - (18%) Lixophaga -(5%) Agathis - (7%)
Results Rowington, 1983 13 fields sampled 12 colonised by C. flavipes High of 59% parasitism by C. flavipes Rowington became focal point
SPOT CHECKS 1999 2000 Rowington: Four fields sampled 232 borers Jamaican Results Three fields -zero C. flavipes Fourth - 2 cocoon masses < 1% C. flavipes parasitism Hyperparasitoid? Chonocephalus
Jamaican Results Other Spot checks 1999-2000 Springfield 150 borers sampled 16.6% parasitised by C. flavipes Hampden 15 borers sampled 27% parasitised by C. flavipes
Impact of other parasites asites Amazon Fly Guyana: Damage reduced from 23% to 6% in 20 years P. claripalpis p Ecuador: Damage reduced from 8-15% to<1% in 10 years Cotesia flavipes Most countries report damage reduction
Impact of Cotesia - Barbados Fig 2. D. saccharalis percentage joint infestation, Barbados, 1999-2002 % infestation 4 3.5 3 25 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 Year
Cotesia Impact Jamaica 1980-99 99 % Intern nodes bored 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 80-83- 86-89- 92-95- 98-82 85 88 91 94 97 99 Monymusk New Yarmouth Innswood
Augmentation Appears necessary Releases phased out in 1987 Cotesia down to near zero in 2000
Antagonism Competition between Cuban Fly and C. flavipes C. flavipes the more aggressive parasite Antagonism reported in Brazil, confirmed in Jamaica Jan, 2004 Springfield: Cuban fly up to 42%, Cotesia flavipes <2% Dec, 2004 Springfield: Cuban fly 0%, Cotesia flavipes as high as 32% Effect of added parasite not cumulative A. stigmaterus completely disappeared
Summary & Conclusion Stalk borers major problem in Caribbean Controlled mainly by biological methods Exchange programme limited success C. flavipes most successful imported parasite Well established in Jamaica since 1983 Antagonistic with native parasitoids
Summary & Conclusion Cotesia needs augmentative releases to maintain significance Cotesia - Spectacular impact in Caribbean In Jamaica - negligible impact Nullified by antagonism with native parasite Impact possibly masked by changing g variety mix and relative susceptibility Bio-control remains most practical available tool