Assessment of Spatial Distribution and Occurrence of Stem Borer Species in Bungoma County.

This study was conducted to assess the spatial distribution and occurrence of stem borer species of maize in Bungoma County. The study was done in Bungoma County. The experiment was conducted during the harvesting period of the short season in December, 2024 after the field had been exposed to natural stalk borer infestation. Destructive sampling was carried out on plants randomly sampled in the field. The plants were assessed for presence of windowing on the leaves, entry and exit holes on the cobs and darkening of the stems which are indicators of stem borer infestation.
The larvae recovered from the cobs were identified using standard stem borer distinctive features. The stalks were then dissected and larvae recovered in them were identified. Stem borers were collected in the plants sampled. The African maize stalk borer, Busseola fusca (Fuller) was more prevalent than African Pink stalk borer, Sesamia calamistis (Hampson) with means of 1.49 and 0.50 respectively. The stems were the most preferred site for stem borers while the cobs were the least preferred with means of 1.286 and 0.643 respectively.
Busseola fusca (Fuller) was the dominant species in Bungoma County because the altitude which is 1200m-1800m above sea level favors the occurrence of this species. Busseola fusca (Fuller) also tolerates a mean temperature of 250c. Sesamia calamistis (Hampson) showed spatial overlap across different ecological areas in space and time. Stems were the most preferred site for stem borers because they attacked young plants, laid eggs on the stems, hatched and larvae tunneled into the stems to feed. This was also due to both biophysical and biochemical factors. The population of the larvae was sparingly low in this study due to the cannibalistic nature of the larvae. There should be extensive field assessment on stem borer incidence and importance in farmers’ fields to determine which areas are most at risk to attack by the stem borers

Assessment, Spatial distribution, Occurrence, Stem borer species

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