Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sunflower and Plant Biology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #187188
Title: MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR THE SUNFLOWER STEM WEEVIL

Author
item Charlet, Laurence
item AIKEN, ROB - KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Extension Publications
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2005
Publication Date: 10/1/2005
Citation: Charlet, L.D., Aiken, R.A. 2005. Management strategies for the sunflower stem weevil. Kansas State University Agronomic Field Research 2005. Northwest Research and Extension Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. p. 18-22.

Interpretive Summary: The sunflower stem weevil infests stalks of cultivated sunflower and can cause lodging resulting in loss of the head prior to harvest. The stem weevil also has been implicated in the transmission of Phoma black stem and charcoal rot. Field research in Kansas evaluated the effect of insecticides and timing strategies, over a range of planting periods on oilseed sunflower yield, weevil densities, weevil parasites, longhorned beetle, and larvae of a root-boring moth. Insecticide treatments improved seed yields and reduced populations of stem weevil and root-boring moth larvae for all planting dates in 2002, but not in 2003, when lack of available water and the presence of sunflower moth likely reduced yield potential. A seed treatment reduced stem weevil numbers in 2003, but not in 2002, when a lower rated was applied.

Technical Abstract: The sunflower stem weevil infests stalks of cultivated sunflower and can cause lodging resulting in loss of the head prior to harvest. The stem weevil also has been implicated in the transmission of Phoma black stem and charcoal rot. Field research in Kansas evaluated the effect of insecticides and timing strategies, over a range of planting periods on oilseed sunflower yield, weevil densities, weevil parasites, longhorned beetle, and larvae of a root-boring moth. Insecticide treatments improved seed yields and reduced populations of stem weevil and root-boring moth larvae for all planting dates in 2002, but not in 2003, when lack of available water and the presence of sunflower moth likely reduced yield potential. A seed treatment reduced stem weevil numbers in 2003, but not in 2002, when a lower rated was applied.