Potato Review

8 POTATO REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 PESTS T HE rst phase of a collaborative project looking at wireworm control, is focusing on a DNA model. Following an upward trend in wireworm damage in potato crops throughout the UK, the new research model Enigma, which was launched by Fera in January, has set its sights on further understanding the pest and nding an end-to-end solution to help support the future of the industry. Entomology R&D Team Leader at Fera, Dr Larissa Collins, said: “ e industry is yet to understand why and how damage patterns are altering. Very little research has been done on wireworm in the UK since the inter-war period, so it’s about time we look into this pest that has been causing signi cant damage to a wide range of crops. Fera has identi ed that R&D is required to understand, in greater detail, the current wireworm species a ecting crops and also the lifecycles of wireworm to enable producers to successfully use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques to control the pest.” e rst, industry-funded, stage of the R&D project, Enigma I, will focus on three main stages over a three-year period. “Initially, we need a better understanding of which species of wireworm are causing damage in which crops and the parameters that in uence this. “We can solve the identi cation problem with molecular technology,” said Larissa. “ e team at Fera will build on background work to create a DNA model that can quickly identify wireworm. Following this, we’ll be looking at the ecology of these di erent species and understanding the behaviour of the pest in crops including potatoes.” “We’ll also look at whether we can use frass, which is a term for insect faeces, in damaged crops to determine which species are causing the damage, and sequence wireworm gut contents to determine what they have been feeding on.” is information will allow the Enigma I team to update sampling strategies and better understand which species are causing crop damage and when. Larissa said the team will also have to ascertain more information on the lifecycles of some of the species that are found to be causing crop damage where this information is unknown, in order to provide information on when best to target the pest for control. New research model helps address wireworm challenge A NEW lure has been developed by International Pheromone Systems that can help farmers to monitor all three types of Agriotes beetles. Agriotes beetles are one of the most economically damaging pests of arable and horticultural crops. eir slow- growing larvae (wireworms) feed on the roots of a potatoes, making them un t for human consumption. Plant damage includes boring and feeding of roots and injury to stem bases, patchy seedling emergence and wilting of seedlings. ree most common pest species are Agriotes lineatus (lined click beetle), Agriotes obscurus (dusky wireworm) and Agriotes sputator (common click beetle). Globally, the lined click beetle is the most common pest and is found throughout Europe, Northern Asia, North America and New Zealand. e harmful larval stage can extend from three to ve years. Because the larvae are di cult to control by conventional methods such as ploughing, the industry primarily relies upon insecticides to manage this pest. Pheromone traps are often used to monitor individual Agriotes species and growing interest in this pest has resulted in Agriotes lineatus becoming one of the most studied of all beetles. Although pheromones have been identi ed for all three species and pheromone lures are commercially available for each species, until now a single lure for all three species has not been available. Scientists at IPS decided that an e ective lure that attracts all three commonly encountered species would be advantageous to growers so that control strategies can be rapidly implemented if trapped numbers of either species are high in monitoring traps. Previous traps available for monitoring were expensive and overly complex to put together and install. IPS has recently developed a new pitfall type trap for weevil pests and this design was thought to be suitable for monitoring of Agriotes beetles. New development is positive news for farmers a ected by lined click beetle. A LOADED LURE