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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #355431
Research Project: Improved Biologically-Based Methods for Insect Pest Management of Crop Insect Pests

Location: Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research

Title: Grape root borer management revisited: Potential use of seasonal acoustic monitoring of root-feeding activity to predict optimal timing of biological control efforts

Author
item INYANG, EDIDIONG - Florida A & M University
item HIX, RAYMOND - Florida A & M University
item COLOVA, VIOLETKA - Florida A & M University
item ROHDE, BARUKH - University Of Florida
item DOSUNMU, OMOTOLA - University Of Florida
item Mankin, Richard

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/18/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Grape root borer (GRB), Vitacea polistiformis (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), is a major pest in Florida vineyards. It is difficult to optimize timing and targeting of management treatments against GRB because the decreases in grape yield and vine health caused by GRB root damage do not appear until subsequent seasons. Consequently, we considered whether monitoring of seasonal and diel patterns of GRB subterranean acoustic activity across a vineyard could inform efforts to time and target control treatments. A 269-d study was begun in early fall to record sounds from root systems at 31 spatially distributed sites at different times of day. Characteristic spectral and temporal patterns in the recorded trains (bursts) of GRB movement and feeding sound impulses enabled them to be discriminated from background noise. The GRB infestation likelihood at each site was estimated from previous studies relating insect presence to sound burst rate. Sites with high burst rates and high infestation likelihoods were confined within a small section of the vineyard, and 39% of recording sites were rated at low infestation likelihood. This suggests that acoustic monitoring could facilitate reductions in GRB treatment coverage. Sound burst rates were greatest in fall, suggesting that springtime reductions in GRB activity may occur just before larvae pupate and adults emerge. Monitoring of springtime activity thus may enable improved predictions about the timing of neonate emergence. Neonates, the stage most vulnerable to pesticides, are preferred targets for treatment.