Abstract
The landscape scale distributions of adult male click beetles of the species Agriotes lineatus, A. obscurus and A. sputator, and the cranefly Tipula paludosa were studied using traps along transects over 2 years. The transects (0.7–1.7 km with either sex pheromone (Agriotes) or water (T. paludosa) traps at 100 m spacings) were in an area of mixed organic land use. Agriotes lineatus was the most numerous click beetle caught even though its larvae were absent from these fields. Greater trap counts were found for all taxa except A. obscurus in grassland. The number of click beetles were influenced by the sampling year, crop type and the species, and interactions of other variables, suggesting that sex pheromone trap counts exhibit variability because of the complexity of the environment. Trap catches were spatially clustered with the exception of A. lineatus in 2005 which had a random distribution. Only A. sputator showed a significant, positive relationship between counts in 2005 and 2006. Variation in catch count of crane flies was largely determined by crop type. We conclude that Agriotes spp. disperse widely and may be recruited from outside the field which makes the interpretation of sex pheromone trap counts scientifically challenging.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anon (1948) Wireworms and food production: a wireworm survey of England and Wales 1939–1942. MAFF bulletin no. 128, HMSO, London
Benefer CM (2011) The molecular and behavioural ecology of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in agricultural land. PhD Thesis, University of Plymouth
Benefer CM, Knight ME, Ellis JS, Hicks H, Blackshaw RP (2012) Understanding the relationship between adult and larval Agriotes distributions; the effect of sampling method, species identification and abiotic variables. Appl Soil Ecol 53:39–48
Blackshaw RP (1983) Some factors influencing variability in water trap catches of Tipulidae (Diptera: Nematocera). Bull Entomol Res 73:693–699
Blackshaw RP (1988) Effects of cultivations and previous cropping on leatherjacket populations in spring barley. Res Develop Agric 5:35–37
Blackshaw RP (2009a) A comparison of management options for leatherjacket populations in organic crop rotations using mathematical models. Agric For Entomol 11:197–203
Blackshaw RP (2009b) Predicting the size of leatherjacket populations in grassland: a pilot study using water traps. IOBC/WPRS bulletin, vol 45, working group “Insect pathogens and insect parasitic nematodes” and COST Action 862 “Bacterial toxins for insect control”. 12th meeting “Future research and development in the use of microbial agents and nematodes for biological insect control”. In: Ehlers R-U, Crickmore N, Enkerli J, Glazer I, Lopez-Ferber M, Tkaczuk C (eds) Proceedings of the meeting at Pamplona (Spain), 22–25 June, 2009, pp 426–429. ISBN 978-92-9067-219-7
Blackshaw RP, Coll C (1999) Economically important leatherjackets of grassland and cereals: biology impact and control. Integr Pest Manage Rev 4:143–160
Blackshaw RP, Moore JP (in press) Within generation dynamics of leatherjackets (Tipula paludosa Meig.). J Appl Entomol
Blackshaw RP, Petrovskii SV (2007) Limitation and regulation of ecological populations: a meta-analysis of Tipula paludosa field data. Math Mod Nat Phenom 2:46–62
Blackshaw RP, Vernon RS (2006) Spatio-temporal stability of two beetle populations in non-farmed habitats in an agricultural landscape. J Appl Ecol 43:680–689
Blackshaw RP, Vernon RS (2008) Spatial relationships between two Agriotes click beetle species and wireworms in agricultural fields. Agric For Entomol 10:1–11
Blackshaw, RP, Hicks H, Vernon RS (2009) Sex pheromone traps for predicting wireworm populations: limitations to interpretation. IOBC/WPRS bulletin working group “Integrated protection of field vegetables”. In: Collier R (ed) Proceedings of the meeting at Porto (Portugal), 23–29 September, 2007. ISBN 92-9067-225-8 51, 17-21
Cocu N, Harrington R, Hulle M, Rounsevell D (2005) Spatial autocorrelation as a tool for identifying the geographic patterns of aphid annual abundance. Agric For Entomol 7:31–43
Coll C (1996) The development of Tipula oleracea L. (Diptera: Tipulidae) as a pest of winter cereals: the role of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen
Diniz-Filho J, Telles M (2002) Spatial autocorrelation analysis and the identification of operational units for conservation in continuous populations. Conserv Biol 16:924–935
Ferguson AW, Barari H, Warner DJ, Campbell JM, Smith ET, Watts NP, Williams IH (2006) Distributions and interactions of the stem miners Psylliodes chrysocephala and Ceutorhynchus pallidactylus and their parasitoids in a crop of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Entomol Exp Appl 119:81–92
Fox C (1961) The abundance and distribution of wireworms in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Can Entomol 93:276–279
Furlan L, Toth M et al (2001) The efficacy of the new Agriotes sex pheromone traps in detecting wireworm population levels in different European countries. In: VIII diabrotica subgroup meeting; XXI IWGO conference, Padova, pp 293–303
Gough H, Evans A (1942) Some notes on the biology of the click beetles Agriotes obscurus L. and A. sputator L. Ann Appl Biol 29:275–279
Hicks H, Blackshaw RP (2008) Differential responses of three Agriotes click beetle species to pheromone traps. Agric For Entomol 10:443–448
Humphreys IC, Blackshaw RP, Stewart RM, Coll C (1993) Differentiation between larvae of Tipula paludosa and Tipula oleracea (Diptera: Tipulidae) using isoelectric focusing, and their occurrence in grassland in northern Britain. Ann Appl Biol 122:1–8
Kudryavtsev I, Siirde K, Laats K, Ismailov V, Pristavko V (1993) Determination of distribution of harmful click beetle species (Coleoptera, Elateridae) by synthetic sex pheromones. J Chem Ecol 19:1607–1611
La Gasa E, Antonelli A (1999) Western Washington Tipula oleracea survey. Washington State University, Washington
Mayor JG, Davies MH (1976) A survey of leatherjacket populations in South-West England, 1963–74. Plant Pathol 25:121–128
Moran PAP (1950) Notes on continuous stochastic phenomena. Biometrika 37:17–23
Parker WE, Howard JJ (2001) The biology and management of wireworms (Agriotes spp.) on potato with particular reference to the UK. Agric For Entomol 3:85–98
Parker WE, Seeney FM (1997) An investigation into the use of multiple site characteristics to predict the presence and infestation level of wireworms (Agriotes spp., Coleoptera: Elateridae) in individual grass fields. Ann Appl Biol 130:409–425
Peck DC, Olmstead D, Petersen MJ (2010) Pest status of invasive crane flies in New York turfgrass and the repercussions for regional plant protection. J Integr Pest Manage 1:1–8
Schallhart N, Wallinger C, Juen A, Traugott M (2009) Dispersal abilities of adult click beetles in arable land revealed by analysis of carbon stable isotopes. Agric For Entomol 11:333–339
Strickland AH, Bardner HM, Waines RA (1962) Wireworm damage and insecticidal treatment of the Ware potato crop in England and Wales. Plant Pathol 11:93–107
Sufyan M, Neuhoff D, Furlan L (2011) Assessment of the range of attraction of pheromone traps to Agriotes lineatus and Agriotes obscurus. Agric For Entomol 13:313–319
Toth M, Furlan L, Yatsynin VG, Szarukan I, Imrei Z, Tolasch T, Francke W, Jossi W (2003) Identification of pheromones and optimisation of bait composition for click beetle pests (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in Central and Western Europe. Pest Manage Sci 59:417–425
Wall C, Perry J (1981) Effects of dose and attractant on interactions between pheromone traps for the pea moth Cydia nigricana. Entomol Exp Appl 30:26–30
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by DEFRA through the Sustainable Arable LINK Programme. The authors also thank Riverford Organics for allowing us to use their land.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by M. Traugott.
A contribution to the Special Issue on Ecology and Control of Wireworms
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blackshaw, R.P., Hicks, H. Distribution of adult stages of soil insect pests across an agricultural landscape. J Pest Sci 86, 53–62 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-012-0413-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-012-0413-6