The following is a press release from Montana State University
BOZEMAN – Montana State University Crop Extension specialists are looking for small grains producers in Montana to help with a statewide survey of wireworms.
Participants will receive five baited traps in the mail. They will then select a field to monitor. Just after the spring grain is planted, they will place the traps in holes covered with a thin layer of soil. After two weeks, they will dig up the traps and mail them back to MSU Extension where the wireworms will be counted and identified. MSU Extension will cover the cost of shipping.
Wireworms are the larval stages of click beetles and feed on roots and young seedlings. They can be devastating to a wide variety of crops, including small grains, potatoes, corn and many high cash value crops.
MSU Crop Extension specialists said there are dozens of wireworm species, but little is known about what wireworm species occur in crops in Montana and other western states, or where those species are distributed. Growers, in fact, may be surprised to learn that they have wireworms in their fields, because many soil pests are often overlooked. Infested stands have thin patchy areas during the spring.
The goal of the 2012 MSU Wireworm Survey is to retrieve abundant samples from across Montana for identifying and mapping pest distribution. The results will be used to provide updated crop pest information to state producers.
For more information, contact:
Kevin Wanner/Ruth O’Neill
333 Plant Biosciences Bldg.
Dept. Plant Science /Plant Pathology
Montana State University
Bozeman MT 59717
Or call O’Neill at (406) 994-5176 or email Wanner at kwanner@montana.edu
Source: Montana State University
Posted by Haylie Shipp
