Western Corn Rootworm Will Survive on Miscanthus

Prairie Farmer
Compiled by staff
Published: Jan 14, 2010

Though populations were 70% lower than on corn, this could be a concern.

The western corn rootworm beetle, a pest that costs growers more than $1 billion annually in the U.S., can also survive on the perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus, a potential biofuels crop that would likely be grown alongside corn, researchers report.

Rootworm beetle larvae can survive to adulthood on Miscanthus rhizomes, and adult beetles will lay their eggs at the base of Miscanthus plants grown near cornfields, the researchers found. Their study, in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, is the first to identify Miscanthus as a host of the corn rootworm.

Read the full story