Insects
Two different populations of Prostephanus truncatus were used in the bioassays, one originated from the invaded range in Ghana, and the other from the native range in Mexico. Both populations were maintained in the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology (LEAZ), at the Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Greece, on whole maize kernels, at 26°C and 55% relative humidity (RH) and continuous darkness.
European Maize Hybrids
Three different maize hybrids (“PICO”, “HAMILTON”, and “AGN 672”) were obtained from American Genetics SA, Sindos, Greece. All hybrids were cultivated at Serres, in northern Greece according to the local farming practices. The hybrid “PICO” has a great production potential and it is adapted to multiple soil types and can produce high-weight grain. The hybrid “HAMILTON” is a dual-purpose hybrid, that has excellent early vigor and it is tolerant to fungi, and the hybrid “AGN 672” has excellent early vigor and it is also tolerant to fungi.
Population Growth on Different Maize Hybrids
Three different maize hybrids (PICO, Hamilton, and AGN 672) were used for experimentation. These hybrids were untreated and uninfested, and kept at ambient conditions until the beginning of the experiments. Before proceeding with the bioassays, grain moisture content (M.C.) was assessed, using a moisture meter (mini-GAC plus, Dickey-John Europe S.A.S., Colombes, France). Standardized plastic vials as in prior work (Quellhorst et al. 2023; Lampiri et al. 2022) were used here (3 cm in diameter, 8 cm in height). Vials were then filled with 20 g of one of the three maize hybrids with lids added after. The commodity was weighed with a Precisa XB3200D compact balance (Alpha Analytical Instruments, Gerakas, Greece). The upper rings of the vials were treated with Fluon (Northern Products Inc., Woonsocket, USA) to prevent insects from moving away from the grain and/or escaping. The top of each vial also had small holes punched to allow ventilation. Each vial then received 10 P. truncatus adults of mixed sex and age from one of two different strains. Two different populations of P. truncatus were used as mentioned above. The vials were placed inside incubators set at 30°C and 65% R.H. in continuous darkness. The vials were removed from the incubators after 45 d and adult progeny production was recorded. We also recorded the weight of frass, the number of insect-damaged kernels (IDK), and the total weight of the kernels within each vial. For each combination, i.e. hybrid × strain, there were n = 9 replicates.