Wireworms (Agriotes sp.) – pest management
Prevalence. Wireworms are polyphagous pests, which are found in almost all regions of the globe. Although they have great adaptability to a wide range of soil types, they find optimal conditions for development in moist and heavy soils (podzols, lakes, river meadows).
Description. Adults have an elongated body, narrowed in the posterior segment, 7-11 mm long, and reddish-brown to blackish in color. The elytra are pubescent and have longitudinal stripes.
The characteristic of insects in the family Elateridae is the presence of the jumping apparatus. If in an unfavorable position, the insects use this apparatus to perform an energetic jump and return to the initial position. Hence the name “click beetles”.
The eggs are small, 0.5 mm in size, oval, light in color.
The larvae, commonly named “wireworms”, have an elongated body, covered by strong chitin, yellow skin. At full development, the body is 18-25 mm. It has well-developed mandibles.
Biology and ecology
It produces a generation once every 4-5 years and overwinters in the soil as a larva of different stages or as an adult. Overwintering adults appear in spring, in the first half of May, and fly during the night. The spawning is laid in May-June, isolated or in groups, at a depth of 1-5 cm in the soil. A female can lay up to 200 eggs.
Both adults and larvae are sensitive to heat. Their activity can be observed in the morning and in the evening at temperatures between 17-25° C. During the vegetative growth period, in April-May and September-October, the larvae remain in the arable layer. In autumn, when the soil temperature drops below 9° C, they retreat to a depth of 60 cm for overwintering. The development of the larvae lasts 3-4 years, during which time they perform vertical and horizontal movements, depending on the humidity, temperature, and food.
Attacked plants and damages
Adults have a mixed diet but the damages they do is insignificant.
The larvae, on the other hand, are extremely harmful, feeding on the underground parts of the plants, with the sprouted grains, the embryo, or the newly formed roots.
Worms especially attack corn, sunflower, potato crops, root crops, greenhouse and solarium crops, tomatoes, etc. After sprouting, the plants are gnawed in the area between the roots and the stem. The attacked plants have yellowed leaves after which they dry or vegetate poorly.
In potato tubers and the roots of beets, carrots, and other root crops, the wireworms drill galleries and thus create gateways for other pathogens, causing these parts to rot. Among cereals, corn is the most affected, especially during the sprouting of plants and in the early stages of the vegetative growth period because the larvae attack the sprouted grains or the newly formed roots.
Also, the attack of wireworms is dangerous in vineyards, nursery gardens, and young orchards.
The attack of wireworms occurs especially in cold and humid springs and sometimes the damage caused requires the re-establishment of the culture.
Control
The prevention of wireworm attacks has to be done before planting/sowing or during this process because no effective methods are known to control them during the vegetative growth period.
Prevention of attack and the control of wireworms is usually done with the help of prophylactic measures or with chemical treatments.
Depending on the crop type, before cultivation, it is recommended to disinfect the soil with specific products.
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Among the prophylactic measures that can be used are: the summer and autumn plowing, performed immediately after harvest, leads to bringing to the surface the eggs and larvae; application of chemical nitrogen fertilizers that have a harmful effect on the larvae; draining the soils with excessive moisture; calcium treatments of acidic soils; crop rotation with less sensitive plants such as peas, beans, mustard, lentils, flax.
Products that can be applied on the soil at the same time with sowing:
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