Abstract

The damage caused by insect pests in plants can considerably affect their development and crop yield. It can also cause the activation of biochemical defense mechanisms in the plant, combined with the production of reactive oxygen species. The levels of these oxygen molecules are controlled by antioxidant enzymes and this mechanism is an important plant defense process. The aim of this study is to learn the effect of feeding by the stink bug, Diceraeus melacanthus, on the growth of corn plants and on the activity of the antioxidant enzyme peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT). The study was carried out in a greenhouse, in a completely randomized design, with a 2 × 4 factorial block and five replications. The first factor was composed of plants with and without the presence of the bug and the second factor was composed the age of corn plants, two, four, six, and eight days after emergence. Corn seedlings infested with the stink bug were negatively influenced in terms of plant height, root mass and increasing in activity of the POD enzyme was 84% higher in plants infested at 8^th DAE. The CAT enzyme activity was not detected in the samples. The stink bug feeding affected the growth of the corn seedlings. The analysis of the POD enzyme could be a valuable tool to quantify the stress caused by the stink bug in futures studies.

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