Spatial and temporal variability in host use by Helicoverpa zea as measured by analyses of stable carbon isotope ratios and gossypol residues

P>1. A high dose/refuge strategy has been adopted in the USA to manage the risk of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) resistance in target pests such as the cotton bollworm (CBW), Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) in transgenic Bt cotton Gossypium hirsutum L. Structured refuges, consisting of non-Bt cotton, have been a mandated part of this strategy to produce non-selected insects that are temporally and spatially synchronous with insects from the Bt crop, diluting Bt resistance alleles through mating. However, the bollworm is highly polyphagous and exploits a large number of crop and weedy hosts concurrently with Bt cotton. 2. A study was carried out in five major US cotton-producing states during 2002 and 2003 using the ratios of 13C to 12C in bollworm moths to estimate the proportions of the population originating from C(3) or C(4) plants. A separate study measured gossypol residues in moths from four states in 2005 and 2006, enabling the identification of moths whose natal hosts were cotton rather than other C(3) hosts. 3. C(4) hosts served as the principal source of bollworm moths from mid-to-late June to early September, depending on the state. Beginning in late August/early September and lasting 1-4 weeks, the majority of moths exhibited isotopic compositions characteristic of C(3) hosts. During this period, however, the minimum percentage of moths that developed as larvae on C(4) hosts was typically > 25%. By mid-September and through October and November, the majority of the bollworm population exhibited C(4) isotopic compositions. 4. Between late June and early August, cotton-derived bollworm moths (moths with gossypol residues) comprised < 1% of moths in all states, and remained below this level throughout the season in North Carolina. In other states, cotton-derived moths increased between early August and early September to peak at an average of 19 center dot 1% of all moths. 5. Synthesis and applications. Data on 13C/12C ratios and gossypol residues in CBW moths were used to assess the importance of structured non-Bt cotton refuges for the management of Bt resistance risk in H. zea. Weekly estimates of bollworm breeding on cotton, C(3) plants other than cotton and C(4) plants showed that, throughout the season, the majority of bollworm moths caught in pheromone traps adjacent to cotton fields did not develop as larvae on cotton. This result implies that management practices in cotton such as the use of structured cotton refuges will play a relatively minor role - particularly compared with maize Zea mays L. - in managing potential resistance to Bt cotton in populations of the CBW in the US Cotton Belt.