Zea (genus) - Ecology

Ecology

Zea species are used as food plants by the larvae (caterpillars) of some Lepidoptera species including (in the Americas) the Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) the Corn Earworm (Helicoverpa zea), and the stem borers Diatraea and Chilo; in the Old World, it is attacked by the Double-striped Pug, the cutworms Heart and Club and Heart and Dart, the Hypercompe indecisa, the Rustic Shoulder-knot, the Setaceous Hebrew Character and Turnip Moths, and the European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nubilalis), among many others.

Virtually all populations of teosinte are either threatened or endangered: Zea diploperennis exists in an area of only a few square miles; Zea nicaraguensis survives as approx. 6000 plants in an area 200 x 150 meters. The Mexican and Nicaraguan governments have taken action in recent years to protect wild teosinte populations, using both in-situ and ex-situ conservation methods. There is currently a large amount of scientific interest in conferring beneficial teosinte traits, such as insect resistance, perennialism and flood tolerance, to cultivated maize lines, although this is very difficult due to linked deleterious teosinte traits.