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Alfalfa Development after Simulated Alfalfa Weevil Injury

Dep. of Entomology, Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0816

^* Corresponding author.

Although the alfalfa weevil [Hypera postica (Gyllenhal)] is an important insect pest of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), relatively little is known about how larval defoliation affects growth processes at specific developmental stages. This study was conducted to characterize the developmental responses of alfalfa to simulated alfalfa weevil injury when iqjury was initiated at the early-bud stage of the first growth cycle. The study was conducted on a Sharpsburg silty clay loam (fine, montmorillonitic, mesic, Typic Argiudolls) in a 3.6 ha ‘Haymaker’ alfalfa field near Walton, NE. A total of 16 1-by l-m plots were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four treatments in each of four replicates. Treatments consisted of an undefoliated check and three levels of simulated alfalfa weevil defoliation. Morphological effects of simulated alfalfa weevil injury were determined at five postdefoliation periods. Leaf area indices, leaf area to total dry weight ratios, and leaf dry weight to total dry weight ratios were reduced linearly as defoliation percentages increased. However, defoliation injury did not affect phenological development of the first growth cycle between the completion of injury and first harvest. Most growth rates were not different among treatments, indicating that there was no postdefoliation compensatory growth. Iqjury initiated at the early-bud stage of the first growth cycle did not impact alfalfa regrowth after the first harvest. Consequently, the most important effect of defoliation initiated at the early-bud stage of the first growth cycle was to reduce dry matter yield of the first growth.

Received for publication December 9, 1991.

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