The performance of soybean cultivars and lines belonging to two maturity groups (135-140 and 145-160 days of cycle) was evaluated during the 1995/96 and 1996/97 seasons in relation to damages caused by stink bugs and caterpillars in the field, at Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Two experiments, one for each maturity group, were carried out, in each growing season, using a complete randomized block design. Infestation of Anticarsia gemmatalis Hüb. occurred only in the first year. Stink bugs, Nezara viridula (L.), Euschistus heros (Fabr.) and predominantly Piezodorus guildinii (West.), occurred in both years with more severe infestation in the first year. The caterpillar defoliation was estimated by the percentage of eaten leaf area (PAFC). Three criteria were used to evaluate the damage caused by stink bugs: percentage of foliar retention (PRF), index of percent pod damage (IPDV) and yield. Based mainly in the first year, and regarding the earlier maturing genotypes, it can be considered that the line IAC 90-2971 presented resistance to caterpillars as well as to stink bugs similar to the line IAC 78-2318, the resistant control. In the experiment with the longer cycle genotypes, line IAC 93-2162 showed susceptibility to both caterpillars and stink bugs, in spite of presenting low PRF. The opposite occurred with line IAC 90-1970, with high PRF but low leaf injuries caused by ceterpillars, low IPDV and high yield. Besides the good performance of IAC 90-1970, the behavior of the cultivar IAC 9 and the line IAC 90-3052 could also be distinguished in relation to the low damages caused by stink bugs.
Insecta; Pentatomidae; Anticarsia gemmatalis; varietal resistance; Glycine max
