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Area‐wide mass trapping by pheromone‐based attractants for the control of sugar beet weevil ( Bothynoderes punctiventris Germar, Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Author(s) -
Drmić Zrinka,
Tóth Miklós,
Lemić Darija,
Grubišić Dinka,
Pospišil Milan,
Bažok Renata
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/ps.4601
Subject(s) - sugar beet , curculionidae , weevil , pest analysis , population , integrated pest management , pheromone trap , toxicology , trapping , sex pheromone , biology , pest control , agronomy , ecology , horticulture , botany , environmental health , medicine
BACKGROUND Owing to the changing climate, narrow crop 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 control methods, an area‐wide ( AW ) control program using aggregation pheromones was implemented over 4 years on an area of 6 and 14.8 km 2 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 SBW population below the 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 pest management plan for dealing with SBW under similar circumstances. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry