Veneto Agricoltura, Agricultural Research Department, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy.
University of Padua, Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2020 May 29;10(1):8780. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64347-z.
Maize seeds are routinely coated with insecticide to target Agriotes spp. larvae (wireworms). However, in order to find fields where pest control is actually needed, it might be useful to estimate the adult Agriotes population levels and thus the pressure they exert, with a low-cost risk assessment tool, such as YATLORf (Yf) sex pheromone traps. A database containing 17 consecutive years (1998-2014) of field monitoring was analyzed, with information including both pheromone-trap catches of adults and maize-plant damage by wireworms. Significant associations were discovered between seasonal adult catches in-field, subsequent wireworm populations, and plant damage/yield reduction. When each trap contained over 1,100 A. sordidus adults and over 210 A. brevis adults one year prior (Y-1), the risk of 15%-plus plant damage in Year 0 (Y0) increased by 6 times and 37 times respectively when compared with lower numbers. More than 1,000 A. brevis adults/trap two years prior (Y-2) increased the risk of 15%-plus plant damage in Y0 by 13 times when compared with lower numbers. Cumulative thresholds were also found in Y-1 and Y-2 at the same site. Yf threshold values allowed us to detect fields with a negligible crop-damage risk and thus to reduce the use of insecticides.
玉米种子通常会被包衣处理，以防治玉米根萤叶甲（地老虎）的幼虫（金针虫）。然而，为了找到需要进行虫害控制的农田，使用一种低成本的风险评估工具（如 YATLORf（Yf）性信息素诱捕器）来估计成虫玉米根萤叶甲的种群水平及其造成的压力，可能会很有用。对一个包含 17 年（1998-2014 年）田间监测数据的数据库进行了分析，这些数据包括成虫性信息素诱捕器的捕获量和玉米植株受到地老虎的损害情况。研究发现，田间季节性成虫捕获量与后续的地老虎种群数量以及植株损害/减产之间存在显著关联。当每个诱捕器在前一年（Y-1）捕获超过 1100 只玉米根萤叶甲和超过 210 只短额负蝗成虫，以及在前两年（Y-2）捕获超过 1000 只短额负蝗成虫时，与数量较低的情况相比，Y0 年出现 15%以上植株损害的风险分别增加了 6 倍和 37 倍。与数量较低的情况相比，在前两年（Y-2）捕获超过 1000 只短额负蝗成虫时，Y0 年出现 15%以上植株损害的风险增加了 13 倍。在同一地点，还在前一年（Y-1）和前两年（Y-2）发现了累积阈值。Yf 阈值值允许我们检测到作物损害风险可以忽略不计的农田，从而减少杀虫剂的使用。
