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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern |
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Project Title:
IPM of Beetle Pests of Cucurbits |
Project Directors (PDs):
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Lead State: NY Lead Organization: Cornell University |
| Research Funding: $93,731 |
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Start Date: Aug-01-1996 End Date: Jul-31-2000 |
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Pests Involved: beetles, rootworms |
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Site/Commodity: cucurbits, vegetables, pumpkins |
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Summary:
Objectives: * Develop treatment thresholds for dibroticine beetles by assessing the impact of feeding damage caused by adult and immature stages to cucurbit ontogeny and yield. * Evaluate cucurbit germplasm and breed for resistance (nonpreference) to diabroticine beetles. * Disseminate new cucurbit pest management information. Outcomes and Impacts Summary from 2001 IPM Center report Vegetables in the cucurbit family, such as cucumbers, pumpkins, and winter squash, are grown on thousands of acres across the Northeast. In New York, the pumpkin crop alone is valued at $26 million annually. Cucumber beetles and related rootworm species are the most important insect pests of cucurbits, and it has been common for growers to treat these plants with insecticide regardless of the degree to which plants are infested. Michael Hoffmann studied infested plants to find the point at which the cost of crop loss due to untreated infestations exceeds the cost of treating pests (this is the "economic injury level"). He found that in pumpkins, crop loss occurred only when 80 percent of the leaf area was removed during early plant growth stages. His work has led to new guidelines that advise applying pesticides only when justified by high levels of infestation. Eliminating even one treatment per year will reduce grower costs by about $15 per acre. Hoffmann also learned that beetles tend to aggregate on certain preferred plant varieties where they can be trapped or controlled, an approach that enabled him to reduce beetle damage by 50 percent on pumpkins. More than 250 growers have been trained in these new cucurbit pest management methods through presentations and on-farm demonstrations. Publications Hoffmann, M.P., R. Ayyappath, and J.J. Kirkwyland. 2000. Yield response of pumpkin and winter squash to simulated cucumber beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) feeding injury. J Econ Entomol. 93(1):136-40. |
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