Lab Wk 3 Estimating Damage

Most of the damage seen on the different sample units were from chewing feeding types.  Earworm, grasshoppers and birds could have been related to the damage observed on the corn, soybeans, and sorghum.  From the initial feeding damages there was some formation of disease on the corn.  This is an indirect effect from the feeding/injury.  The sampling units used were leaf (soybean), ear (corn), and head (sorghum).  The soybean sample size included 50 different leaves.  The corn included 30 different ears as samples.  The sorghum samples consisted of 30 different heads.  The estimation method that I used was real basic.  The percentage of the ear/head/leaf that was infected or gone compared to the healthy intact section enabled me to roughly estimate a percentage.  Sampling is a relative measure since we were comparing and judging off of each individual leaf.  Absolute sampling would involve the actual percentage determined from calculations.  Different sizes of the samples could have affected my accuracy.  Using more uniform samples might correct this problem.

Comparing Results:

Sorghum (R2)
Wehking (highest in class)-0.8277
Trachsel-0.8019

Corn (R2)
Pfizenmaire (highest in class)-0.5327
Trachsel-0.0448

Soybean (R2)
Baird (Highest in class)-0.9173
Trachsel-0.847

-I was over estimating on my predicted damage compared to the observed damage.

Not accurately determining the damage in the field can imply one way or another that the situation is economical or not.  Having a false idea from those predictions could result in losses from controlling when not needed or not controlling when needed.

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The information from these graphs can be used in determining your comparison to the actual damage and then can help with making an economical decision.

Examining insects, for the most part, are hard to see without a microscope.  That is why taking samples and pictures in the field are extremely difficult compared to being in the lab.  Using the technology that is used in the lab out on a farm location is not readily available and can be expensive.  This picture above is a grasshopper (Orthoptera).  It has a hyognathus head orientation, chewing mouth parts and legs that are adapted for jumping.  Other orders that I found in the soybean and milo sample were Coleoptera, Neuroptera and Lepidoptera.  The majority of the insects had chewing mouth parts.  In the order Lepidoptera i found a moth with mouth parts capable of siphoning and in the order Neuroptera the lacewing had sucking mouth parts.