Melanaphis sorghi, a recent aphid pest in United States, is capable of inflicting severe economic damage to cultivated sorghum. Host plant resistance and insecticides have emerged as key tools to manage aphid populations in the field. However, it is unclear how these approaches impact the response of the natural enemy complex to variable aphid densities in the Southeast. Natural enemies of M. sorghi have previously been found to significantly suppress M. sorghi in other regions of the United States. A study was conducted in the Mississippi Delta to assess how aphid resistant sorghum and insecticides impacted predator and parasitoid natural enemies of M. sorghi . The results demonstrated that host plant resistance altered the timing and density of insect natural enemies in sorghum. Even altered, host plant resistance and natural enemies both contributed to aphid suppression and M. sorghi densities were kept below economically damaging levels.
.png)
