Population Comparison of Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Regions With and Without a History of Injury to Cry3 Corn

In this study, we examined fields in counties where greater-than-expected injury to Cry3 (Cry3Bb1 or mCry3A) corn roots (>1 node) had previously been reported (problem counties) and counties where injury had not been reported (non-problem counties). Four to eight fields were sampled per county in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to quantify rootworm abundance, root injury, Cry3Bb1 resistance, and rootworm management strategies by farmers (i.e., cultivation of corn, type of corn that was grown, and insecticide use over the previous 6 years). Additionally, a comparison of root injury to Bt and non-Bt corn within fields was made.

Files are organized by analysis of interest, and each data file is paired with a text file of accompanying SAS code, which was used for analysis.

Analyses include: survival data from bioassays to test for resistance to Cry3Bb1, analysis of corrected survival in bioassays, analysis of proportion third instar larvae in bioassays, analysis of field history variables, analysis of root injury and adult rootworm abundance in fields, and an analysis comparing root injury to Bt and non-Bt corn.

Data was collected between 2015 and 2018.

An associated publication is in press in Journal of Economic Entomology: "Comparing Populations of Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Regions With and Without a History of Injury to Cry3 Corn"