Transgenic Bt sweet corn hybrids are a genetically modified organism (GMO) that are the result of combining commercially available sweet corn varieties with genes from a naturally occurring soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner or Bt.

The European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is one of the most economically important pests of agricultural crops in much of the eastern and central United States.

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a significant pest to over 200 different plant species. In Virginia, it is the number one pest of pepper, Capsicum annuum L. This pest can damage over 50 percent of pepper fruit if control measures are not taken.

Scientific Name: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith)
Size: Caterpillars vary in length from 1/2 inch (2mm) as first instar larvae to 3/4 to 1 inch (35 to 50mm) as mature larvae (See Fig. 1). Adult moths have a wingspan of 1.2 to 1.6 inches (32 to 40mm).

Color: Larvae vary in color from light tan or green to dark brown (nearly black) [base color ranging from yellow-green to a dark brown to gray] with three yellowish-white lines down the sides and back from head to tail and four dark circular spots on the upper portion of each abdominal segment. Front of the head is marked with a prominent inverted white Y, but this characteristic is not always a reliable identifier. The forewing of adult male moths is generally shaded gray and brown, with triangular white spots at the tip and near the center of the wing. The forewings of females are less distinctly marked, ranging from a uniform grayish brown to a fine mottling of gray and brown. The hind wing is iridescent silver-white with a narrow dark border in both sexes.

Description: Larvae are hairless and smooth skinned (See Fig. 1).

The pepper maggot, Zonosemata electa (Say) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is native to eastern North America and is thought to have moved from the weedy perennial horse nettle, Solanium carolinense L., to domesticated crops like the bell pepper. Pepper maggot occurrence in pepper is patchy and sporadic. However, infestation can reach 100 percent of the fruit with only a single maggot causing the destruction of an entire pepper fruit.

Varroa mites (Fig. 1) are serious pests of the apiculture industry throughout the Americas. The mites were first reported in the United States in Florida in 1987, apparently as an accidental introduction along with illegally imported South American queen bees. By 1989, the mite was found in 19 of the southern states and has continued to spread throughout the United States and much of Canada. To date, the varroa mite has killed one-half of the managed honeybee colonies and almost all of the feral honeybee colonies in North America. If a varroa mite infestation is left untreated, it can kill a bee colony within one to three years. As a result, the varroa mite is considered to be one of the most severe threats to the apiculture industry.

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hubner (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is one of the most economically important pests of agricultural crops in much of the eastern and central United States. O. nubilalis is particularly damaging to sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) because it causes direct injury to the fruit, premature fruit ripening, and fruit rot, a result of pathogens such as Erwinia carotovora entering the feeding wound.