engleski

Area-wide mass trapping by pheromone-based attractants for the control of sugar beet weevil (Bothynoderes punctiventris Germar, Coleoptera: Curculionidae

BACKGROUND:Owing to the changing climate, narrowcrop rotation, and changes in insecticide application practice, sugar beet weevil (SBW) (Bothynoderes punctiventris Germar) has become the most important economic pest in sugar beet. To develop alternative controlmethods, an area-wide (AW) control program using aggregation pheromoneswas implemented over 4 years on an area of 6 and 14.8 km2 in east Croatia. RESULTS: The mass trapping of SBW on the ‘old’ sugar beet fields reduced the population from 0.73% to 11.59%. Owing to the strong attack, mass trapping was not effective enough to avoid an insecticide application. However, it significantly reduced the number of insecticide applications, the amount of insecticide used, and the damage compared to the fields outside the mass trapping area. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to implement an AW program for SBW. It may not be possible to state from this study that trapping alone can reduce the SBWpopulation belowthe economic threshold level. However, the data do suggest that trapping can play an important role in the reduction of insecticide applications and in creating an integrated pestmanagement plan for dealing with SBWunder similar circumstances.

aggregation pheromones ; area-wide control program ; integrated pest management ; mass trapping ; sugar beet weevil

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