About Wireworms

Scientific description of the Wireworms (2020)

The authors of this content are Jürgen Kroschel, Norma Mujica, Joshua Okonya, Andrei Alyokhin

Agriotes lineatus (L.), A. vobscurus (L.), A. sputator (L.)., Athous haemorrhoidalis (F.), Conoderus rudis (Brown), C. vespertinus (Fabricius), Ctenicera pruinina (Horn), C. cuprea (Fabricius), Melanotus communis (Gyllenhal) (Coleoptera: Elateridae) 

• Monitoring.
  Avoid growing potatoes in wireworm infested fields. Plan and utilize a range of risk assessment methods such as pheromone and bait trapping, as well as soil sampling to confirm the status of each field. In arable rotations, plough-based cultivation may help to reduce wireworm populations (Larrain et al. 2003).


• Cultural control.
  Wireworms feed on the roots of various crops, particularly grasses. Consequently, before planting potatoes in pasture areas, the soil borne wireworm larvae population must be reduced by proper plowing and rotation with other crops that require frequent tilling. Keeping potato fields free from weeds has also been reported to reduce wireworm populations.


 

• Biological control.
  Currently, there are no commercial biological control agents available for controlling wireworms, although some strains of the insect-pathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae have shown promising results under experimental conditions (Kabaluk et al. 2005).


• Chemical control.
  Insecticides applied to the soil may be required in certain circumstances. To be effective, insecticides for the control of wireworms need to be incorporated into the soil at planting and remain active during the cropping season (Parker and Howard 2001).