Distribution, relative importance, and agro-climatic preferences of cereal stem borers in Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

The distribution and relative importance of lepidopteran stem borers attacking maize and sorghum were investigated in farmers’ fields during the main cropping seasons of 2015 and 2016 across three main agro-climatic zones (ACZs) of eastern Ethiopia. Three stem borer species, namely Busseola fusca Fuller, Chilo partellus Swinhoe and Sesamia calamistis Hampson were found attacking these crops with different levels of distribution and abundance among ACZs. Busseola fusca was the only borer species in the highlands and dominant (67%) in the midhighland zones, while C. partellus was predominant (75%) in the lowlands. The abundance of S. calamistis was low across its distribution range. Across both years, mean plant infestation by B. fusca ranged from 20.38 in lowlands to 42.97% in highlands. Chilo partellus resulted in a mean infestation of 27.38% in the midaltitude to 68.24% in lowlands. Mean density of larvae per plant was higher for C. partellus (2.85), followed by B. fusca (1.41) and S. calamistis (0.46). Moreover, within each ACZs, variation in plant damage variables was observed between the study periods. These spatio-temporal differences in community structures of stem borers are discussed particularly in relation to agro-climatic requirements.

Keywords:

• Agro-climatic zones
• larval density
• maize
• sorghum
• plant infestation

Acknowledgements

We express our appreciation to Haramaya University and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) for providing the research fund. We acknowledge the University of Fort Hare, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, Department of Zoology and Entomology for providing the PhD fellowship to the first author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.