ARS | Publication request: Relationship of black vine weevil egg density and damage to two cranberry cultivars

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 27, 2012
Publication Date: June 1, 2012
Citation: Miller, B., Bruck, D.J., Walton, V.M. 2012. Relationship of black vine weevil egg density and damage to two cranberry cultivars. HortScience. 47:755-761.

Interpretive Summary: Field and laboratory trials compared an insect killing fungus and nematode to the synthetic insecticide imidacloprid for black vine weevil (BVW), Otiorhynchus sulcatus, larval control in cranberry. Two field sites were treated in fall of 2009 and soil samples collected during 2009 and 2010 to assess treatment efficacy and persistence. Average larval mortality over the entire sampling period indicated that the fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae was a more suitable control agent compared to the nematode and imidacloprid in both locations.

Technical Abstract: Field and laboratory trials compared Metarhizium anisopliae and Steinernema kraussei to imidacloprid for black vine weevil (BVW), Otiorhynchus sulcatus, larval control in cranberry. Two field sites were treated in fall of 2009 and soil samples collected during 2009 and 2010 to assess treatment efficacy and persistence. Average larval mortality over the entire sampling period indicated that M. anisopliae was a more suitable control agent compared to S. kraussei and imidacloprid in both locations.