
New Beetle
Attractant Controls White GrubsBy Linda McGraw February 15, 2001A new lure being developed by
Agricultural Research Service and
cooperating scientists could bring relief to people trying to guard their lawns
and crops against root-damaging white grubs. White grubs--the larvae of beetles
in the family Scarabaeidae--are important pests of turfgrass, sugarcane,
corn, small grains, vegetables, flowers, trees and nursery crops throughout the
United States and around the world. The research focuses on a lure that attracts and kills the adult beetles
before they have a chance to lay eggs. By preventing an infestation of white
grubs, this new environmentally friendly technology may greatly reduce the need
for treating large areas with insecticides, according to ARS entomologist Juan
D. Lopez, Jr., in College Station, Texas. ARS researchers there are working
with a scientist at the Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station in Dallas. This new attractant is of special interest because no effective attractants
are currently available for monitoring and controlling several species of white
grubs, according to Lopez. The attractant was developed under a cooperative
research agreement with Trece, Inc., of
Salinas, Calif. The scents, which smell like food to the beetles, lure adult insects into a
trap or into a treated area where they are captured or can feed on low-dose
insecticides. A feeding stimulant entices them to eat enough of the mixture to
kill them. With attract-and-kill technology, adults are targeted even though
the larvae do the most damage to root crops. The goal is to keep adults from
reproducing, thereby reducing succeeding generations. The new attractant can be used either as part of a monitoring program or as
a direct control. Using monitoring alone, farmers and other growers can know
when and where the pest is breeding to produce damaging offspring. This permits
more efficient use of fewer pesticides in area-wide Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) programs. USDA and the Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station have applied for a patent on the adult beetle attractant. A
similar attractant for corn earworm moths was patented in June 2000. ARS is the chief scientific research agency for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Scientific contact: Juan D. Lopez, Jr., Areawide Pest Management Research, ARS Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center, 2771 F&B Road, College Station, TX 77845; phone (979) 260-9530, fax (979) 260-9386, [email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture |