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REVIEW article

Front. Insect Sci.
Sec. Invasive Insect Species
Volume 4 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/finsc.2024.1480940

Ecological interactions, host plant defenses, and control strategies in managing soybean looper, Chrysodeixis includens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Provisionally accepted
Rahul Debnath Rahul Debnath 1Justin George Justin George 2*Manish Gautam Manish Gautam 1Insha Shafi Insha Shafi 1Rupesh Kariyat Rupesh Kariyat 1Gadi V.P. Reddy Gadi V.P. Reddy 2
  • 1 Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States
  • 2 Southern Insect Management Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Stoneville, Mississippi, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Soybean looper (SBL), Chrysodeixis includens (Walker 1858) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is one of the most damaging insect pests of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., in the mid-south region of the United States, and causes significant economic losses to cotton, sunflower, tomato, and tobacco crops in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina. Soybean production in the southern region accounted for 15.5% of the total production in the United States, and yield losses due to invertebrate pests were 5.8%, or 1.09 million metric ton, in 2022. As insecticide resistance of SBL continues to rise, the lack of alternate control strategies is a serious concern. Numerous studies have been reported on pest status, distribution, semiochemical-based attractant blends, pesticides and resistance mechanisms, host-plant resistance mechanisms, and molecular tools for controlling this pest in soybeans and other crops. However, there is no comprehensive review that summarizes and discusses these research on SBL and soybeans. The current management strategies for SBL remain heavily reliant on chemical insecticides and transgenic crops. In contrast, integrated pest management (IPM) strategies are needed to control the pest in an effective and environmentally friendly way. This review examines and synthesizes the literature on SBL as a significant pest of soybeans and other important crops, highlighting recent progress in ecological interactions, host plant defenses, and control strategies and identifying information gaps, thereby suggesting avenues for further research on this pest.

    Keywords: semiochemicals, IPM (Integrated Pest Management), Insecticide Resistance, Tritrophic interaction, biological control

    Received: 14 Aug 2024; Accepted: 22 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Debnath, George, Gautam, Shafi, Kariyat and Reddy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Justin George, Southern Insect Management Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Stoneville, 38776, Mississippi, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.