L. FURLAN
Department of Agronomy, Entomology, University
of Padova, via Romea 16, Agripolis, Legnaro PD; phone 0039 049 8272801;
FAX: 0039 049 8272810; e-mail: ento@agripolis.unipd.it
M. TÓTH
Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian
Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Pf 102, H-1525 Hungary
V.G.YATSININ
Krasnodar Lukyanenko Research Institute
of Agriculture, Krasnodar 12, 350012, Russia
I. UJVÁRY
Central Chemistry Institute, Hungarian,
Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Pusztaszeri ut 59/67, H-1025, Hungary
In Europe many farmers apply a soil insecticide
to maize at planting without any evaluation of the actual presence of an
economically-damaging wireworm population. Effective, easy and inexpensive
tools are needed to identify the soils that have high wireworm populations
in order to ensure that treatments are only applied where necessary or
to enable infested fields to be avoided. Pheromone traps might represent
a solution as they monitor the only stage that lives outside the soil:
the adults.
A specific project to develop effective
Agriotes
sex pheromone traps was begun in 1995. It has been developed through the
following phases:
1) Collation of available information on:
a) the most important Agriotes species that damage maize in Europe;
b) the pheromones of these species;
2) Rearing of the species for which no
or not enough information were available (Agriotes brevis, Agriotes
sordidus, Agriotes litigiosus (different varieties), Agriotes lineatus)
in order to obtain sufficient numbers of experimental insects to study;
3) Extraction of the pheromones from female’s
gland; gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analyses to characterise
them;
4) Synthesis of components identified;
5) Field optimisation (components ratio,
dosage, dispenser type, etc.) of baits prepared from synthetic pheromone
components;
6) Development of a trap model suitable
for catching the different species;
7) Evaluation of the effectiveness of
the traps in different areas with different populations.
Phase 5 to 7 were sometimes carried out
concurrently. To ensure rapid development of new materials, protocols were
often modified during the season in the light of results obtained.
After seven years work, a non-saturable
trap and different lures suitable for monitoring all the most important
European Agriotes species (A. brevis, A. lineatus, A. litigiosus, A.
obscurus, A. rufipalpis, A. sordidus, A. sputator, A. ustulatus) have
been made available for all the European countries. A description of the
main features of the new materials is given.
The cost to realize the phases one to
six was about 300.000 Euros not including overheads and amortization of
the facilities used.
What has to be done to complete the work:
- To discover the biological significance
of the pheromone trap catches; determination of the actual range of attractiveness,
and the relationship between males captured and level of female population.
- To establish a reliable correlation
between adult trap catches and subsequent larval populations for all the
species and varieties in different climatic and agronomic (mainly rotation)
conditions. For both these aspects, studies have already started and the
first encouraging data have been obtained. Replications in many different
conditions are needed to meet the practical requirements of the effective
implementation of an IPM strategy.