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Wireworm Management in Horticultural Crops
1. Wireworm management in
horticultural crops
Dr. Christine Noronha
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Charlottetown
Research and Development Centre
Presentation to ACORN November 25, 2015 - PEI
2. What are wireworms
• Larvae of click beetles.
• Several species cause crop damage.
• An emerging pest worldwide.
• Affect a wide variety of crops.
• Can render root crops unmarketable.
• Very limited means of control.
3. Lifecycle of Wireworms
They pupate in the soil and
emerge as adults in the spring.
Lifecycle 5 years
Spring-early summer
Adults lay 100-200
eggs in the soil
Spring – damage seeds
and seedling roots
Later Fall- hibernate in the
soil. Return to the surface in
the spring.
Click
beetles
Larvae
Fall damage root crops
4. 1 female lays 100-200 eggs
If only 8 larvae survive to become
adults in year five, with 4 females
and four males each females
produces 100-200 eggsFive years later
Ten years later
Population increase
5. • Agriotes sputator (NS, NB and PEI
• Agriotes obscurus PEI and NS
• Agriotes lineatus PEI and NS
• Hypnoidus abbreviatus
• Ctenicera pulchra
• Dalopius sp
European Species
Other species
48 species of click beetles in PEI, 98 in NB and 101 NS
Click Beetle Species
6. Where do they prefer to lay their eggs
Sod fields
Pasture fields
Under-seeded Fields
Undisturbed fields with green plant material are preferred
Adults will also lay eggs in bare soil,
egg survival may be compromised
8. MONITORING CLICK BEETLES
• Wireworm populations have
been closely monitored in PEI
using pheromone traps.
• Pheromones are chemical
produced by females to attract
males.
• Pheromone are available for
some of the European species.
• Traps collect only male beetles.
9. Range of
beetle
numbers
Prince County
No. of Farms
Queen County
No. of Farms
Kings county
No. of Farms
2009 2012 2014 2009 2012 2014 2009 2012 2014
0 4 4 1 0 0 0 2 1 0
1-10 16 25 2 8 6 0 10 12 0
11-50 7 5 7 7 4 3 3 7 2
51-100 0 2 1 1 3 3 0 0 1
101-500 0 2 4 2 5 4 0 0 2
501-1000 0 0 2 0 5 2 0 0 1
>1000 0 1 0 0 3 5 0 0 0
Total # of
beetles
214 1969 2812 1308 10,438 14,152 76 197 1298
Total per
trap
7.9 50 83 72 401.46 416.23 5.4 9.8 108
Table 1. Comparisons of the number of farms with beetles numbers ranging
for 0 - >1000 in 2009 and 2012, and 2014 for each county in Prince Edward
Island.
** 500 beetles and over can result in crop failure.
11. Potential to impact agriculture
• Once infected, agricultural land will remain
infected until adequate control measures to
eliminate the larvae are implemented.
• If wireworms are not controlled, the land
may become a important source of adult
beetle that will infest other fields.
• Because of the wide host range, good
agricultural land may become unsuitable for
crop production.
12. • 5 year life cycle.
• Soil dwelling.
• Difficult to monitor because of aggregated field
distribution.
• Several generations in the same field.
• Damage occurs in the spring and fall.
• Feed on a wide variety of crop species – oats, wheat,
barley, clover, corn, carrots, lettuce, onions, peas,
potatoes, parsnips cabbage, beans, rutabagas etc.
20. Wireworm research at AAFC Charlottetown: Crop
Rotation Study To Reduce Wireworm Damage (funded by
Pest Management Centre, 2007-2010)
Brown Mustard, Buckwheat, Barley /Clover
21. Crop Rotation
Crops
Total
Market
yield
(t/ha)
Tubers
with no
Damage
(t/ha)
Average
Number
of Holes
per
tuber
Tonnes/ha
lost due to
damage (for
Processing)
(t/ha)
Tonnes/ha
Marketable
(for
Processing)
(t/ha)
Brown
Mustard
45.6 a1 16.2 a 04 a 0.5 a 45.1 a
Buckwheat 45.9 a 12.6 a 06 a 2.6 a 43.3 a
Barley 47.3 a 2.3 b 20 b 16.8 b 30.5 b
Table 1. Total market yield, number of undamaged tubers, holes per tuber, tonnes
per hectare lost due to wireworm damage and marketable yield for the processing
market in a potato crop following a 2 year rotation with brown mustard, buckwheat,
barley/clover or alfalfa at Hazelbrook in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
22. Why does Brown Mustard work?
• Because the plant tissue has
Allyl-glucosinolate (GTC)
• When plant material starts to
breakdown and enzyme
Myronase reacts with the tissue to
produce Isothiocynates (ITC)
Glucosinolate
Enzyme Myronase
+ Isothiosynate
ITC
23. Why does Brown Mustard work?
• The plant tissue has
Allyl-glucosinolate (GTC)
• 2-phenylethyl in its roots
which is toxic to insects
24. • Brown Mustard (Brassicae juncea var. Centennial)
10lb/ac or 11.2kg/ha
• Buckwheat (var Mancan) 40lb.ac or 44.8kg/ha
• 2 crops /year for 2 years
• Fertilizer 300lb/ac or 335kg/ha 17:17:17 banded at
planting in the spring
• Plant early June
Crop Rotation
25.
26.
27. • Brown Mustard (var Centennial) 8-10lb/ac or
11.2kg/ha
• Buckwheat (var Mancan) 40lb.ac or 44.8kg/ha
• 2 crops /year
• Fertilizer 300lb/ac or 335kg/ha 17:17:17 banded at
planting in the spring
• Plant early June
• Disk the crop in late July before seeds mature
Crop Rotation
29. Crop Rotation
• After two-three weeks harrow the field to level it
• Depending on the seeder you may need to roll it
before planting, mainly because you don’t want
the mustard seed planted too deep
• Do not need to add fertilizer for the second
planting
30. Crop Rotation
• The 2nd crop should go in by the mid-late August
• Wireworms come to the surface to feed by mid to
late September
• You want the crop established and producing the
chemicals
• This second crop does not need to be disked as it
will act as ground cover and will not produce
seeds
38. Using brown mustard as a nurse crop
Brown Mustard was planted in the
potato rows at 5 different seeding
dates throughout over the
Summer.
39. Seeding date July 14 Seeding date July 30 Seeding date Aug 13
Seeding date Aug 20 Seeding date Aug 28
Growth of Brown mustard planted in the potato row on
September 16
40. Figure 1. Number of blemishes caused by wireworm feeding in plots
planted with brown mustard as a nurse crop on 5 different dates
during the growing season 2015
a
ab
abab
ab
b
43. 43
Figure 2. Mean number of blemishes (holes+scars) in different potato
varieties grown without an insecticide application to protect against
wireworm damage
45. X
X
Can Metarhizium control wireworms by controlling click beetles?
(in the years leading up to planting potatoes)
X
First of all, is Metarhizium even pathogenic to the adult beetles?
Tests in the lab
say YES
47. Conidia spray
Conidia dust
Conidia granules
Number of days after treatment
% beetle
mortality
Matador (λ – cyhalothrin)
-spray positive control
Application of Metarhizium spores
kills click beetles in the field
48. The Concept – Attracting Beetles to Bands of Biocontrols using Pheromone Granules
49. Click beetles recaptured 16 days post-treatment
Pheromone granules synergize
the efficacy of Metarhizium
when targeting A. obscurus click beetles
using a banded application
Mean number + s.e.
of beetles per
passive pitfall trap
(mean of 8 traps in
each of 5 replications
=40 traps/data point)
Untreated
Dead
Metarhizium
Almost all
beetles
killed
50. STRATEGIES TO REDUCE DAMAGE
1. Find out if you have wireworms in your field.
2. If you work up a long term sod field do not plant a
valuable crop the first year.
3. Plant brown mustard (Brassice juncea var Centennial)
or buckwheat (var.Mancan) as a rotation crop as
shown above.
4. Try not to plant a preferred host such as grain every
year.
5. For root crops harvest early before wireworms come
up to the surface to feed in the fall.
