| dc.description.abstract | Busseola fusca (Fuller), Sesamia calamistis
Hampson, Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) and Chilo orichalcociliellus
(Strand) are important stem borer pests of maize
and sorghum in East Africa. Persistence of these pests in
crop fields is blamed on the influx of diaspore populations
from the neighbouring natural habitats. In addition to pest
species, natural habitats support numerous non-economic
stem borer species, some not known to science. However,
due to growing human populations and accompanying
global change, some of the natural habitats are undergoing
rapid changes, a process that may result in the evolution of
‘‘new’’ pest species. In this study, we investigated stem
borer species diversity in four different vegetation mosaics
in Kenya, with an aim of establishing the differences in
species composition and distributions in both wild and
cultivated habitats. We identified 33 stem borer species belonging to 14 different genera in the four families;
Noctuidae, Crambidae, Pyralidae and Tortricidae from 37
plant species. In addition to the above stem borer pest
species, we found three more species, Busseola segeta
Bowden, Pirateolea piscator Fletcher and Eldana saccharina
Walker, in the cultivated fields. Together, stem borer
pests varied in distribution among vegetation mosaics,
suggesting differences in ecological requirement. Despite
the variations in distribution patterns, stem borer pests
co-existed with non-economic species in the natural habitats,
communities that are facing threats due to ongo
ing habitat changes. This paper discusses the likely i
mpacts of habitat changes on both pest and non-economic
species. | en |
