Degree:
M.Sc. DegreeYear: 2002 Institute: Carleton
University (Canada)
In this study, I fed Podisus
maculiventris (Say) (Hemiptera:
Pentatomidae) and Coleomegilla
maculata DeGeer (Coleoptera:
Coccinellidae) different concentrations of
purified Cry3Aa δ-endotoxin, the insecticidal
protein expressed by NewLeaf™ transgenic potatoes.
The maximum dose was 50μg Cry3Aa/g food for
P. maculiventris and 200 μg
Cry3Aa/g food for C. maculata. I
found no effect on either developmental rate or
survivorship for either species, even at the
highest doses, strongly indicating that Cry3Aa
poses virtually no risk to these predators. Frass
from C. maculata in the highest
dose treatment contained enough active Cry3Aa
protein to cause significant mortality in early
instar Leptinotarsa decemlineata
Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) (Colorado potato
beetle). Colorado potato beetle showed no
significant mortality when exposed to frass from
P. maculiventris in either the
highest dose treatment or an additional treatment
of 500 μg Cry3Aa/g food, although some mortality
was observed when they ingested P.
maculiventris carcasses from the 500 μg/g
treatment. This suggests that P.
maculiventris digests Cry3Aa, while
C. maculata does
not.