William E. PARKER
ADAS, Woodthorne, Wergs Road, Wolverhampton, WV6 8TQ, United Kingdom.
The importance of wireworms (Agriotes spp.) in U.K. agriculture and horticulture has varied considerably over the last 50 years. Their importance was at a peak during the Second World War when large areas pasture were ploughed up to increase national food production, but declined from the mid-1950s as the use of persistent organochlorine insecticides (DDT, aldrin and ?-HCH) became more widespread. However, the last five years has seen resurgence in the importance of wireworm problem, mainly on potato crops, but also potentially on cereals.
This paper will review recent development in wireworm management in the U.K., and indicate where research priorities now lie.
Recent work on wireworms in the U.K. has centered on improving risk assessment methodologies. This has resulted in the development of a bait trapping system that is now in widespread commercial use. Work has also been done to develop and evaluate more sophisticated multi-variate models based on field characteristics which could be used to predict the presence and level of wireworm infestation in grass fields intended for arable crop production without the need for soil sampling. A limited amount of work has been done on evaluating insecticides for wireworm control, as well as some initial work on evaluating the susceptibility of different potato cultivars to wireworm damage.
A feature of recent wireworm problems in the U.K. has been an apparent increase in infestations in all-arable rotations. There is some evidence that this is a result of long-term (five-year) set-aside, which may be providing a suitable habitat for wireworm survival.
Current work is concentrating on improving risk assessment methodologies by investigating adult monitoring systems, and investigating the interaction between variety, insecticide use and harvest date on wireworm control in potato. Work is also now required on risk assessment and control threshold in cereals. With increasing interest in organic production in the U.K., acceptable non-chemical means of wireworm management also need to be developed.