Cultural Control of Giant Sugarcane Borer, Telchin licus (Lepidoptera: Castniidae), by Soil Mounding to Impede Adult Emergence

Abstract The giant sugarcane borer, Telchin licus (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Castniidae), also known as the banana stem borer, is an economically important pest of sugarcane in eastern Colombia. The presence of larval and pupal stages within stalks makes biological control of this pest difficult, and growers often resort to insecticide applications. Hilling up the soil around the base of plants, or soil mounding, is a cultural practice sometimes used to improve rooting in sugarcane. Because mature larvae cut holes in stalks close to ground level through which they can emerge as an adult, we hypothesized that soil mounding would impede adult emergence, and thus contribute to population reduction. Two experiments were conducted in fields with significant infestations of this pest in Puerto López, Meta, Colombia, during the seasons of adult emergence in this region (Apr–May and Oct–Nov). Manual mounding of soil to a height of 20 cm was tested in the first trial, and mechanized mounding of soil in the second, which also compared 2 mounding heights (10 and 20 cm). In both cases, 2 m row transects of plants were caged to collect emergent adults. Adult emergence was reduced up to 65% in all mounding treatments, whether manual or mechanical, and regardless of mounding height, demonstrating that this cultural practice could be a useful tactic for inclusion in an integrated management program for this pest. However, as with any other cultural practice in pest management, region-wide implementation likely would be required to impact local population densities, and efficacy will depend further on low levels of moth immigration from alternative host plants.