1 The western corn rootworm Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte is a major insect pest of field maize, Zea mays L. Larvae can cause substantial injury by feeding on maize roots. Larval feeding may destroy individual roots or root nodes, and reduce plant growth, stability, and yield. Costs associated with managing corn rootworms in continuous maize are annually one of the largest expenditures for insect management in the United States Corn Belt. 2 Even though D. virgifera virgifera has been studied intensively for over 50 years, there is renewed interest in the biology, ecology, and genetics of this species because of its ability to rapidly adapt to management tactics, and its aggressive invasive nature. 3 This article provides a comprehensive review of D. virgifera virgifera population dynamics, specifically: diapause, larval and adult development, seasonality, spatial and temporal dynamics at local and landscape scales, invasiveness in North America and Europe, and non-trophic interactions with other arthropods. 4 Gaps in current knowledge are identified and discussed especially within the context of challenges that scientists in North America and Europe are currently facing regarding pest dynamics and the need to develop appropriate management strategies for each geographic area.

Europe is attempting to contain or, in some regions, to eradicate the invading and maize destroying western corn rootworm (WCR). Eradication and containment measures include crop rotation and insecticide treatments within different types of buffer zones surrounding new introduction points. However, quantitative estimates of the relationship between the probability of adult dispersal and distance from an introduction point have not been used to determine the width of buffer zones. We address this by fitting dispersal models of the negative exponential and negative power law families in logarithmic and non‐logarithmic form to recapture data from nine mark‐release‐recapture experiments of marked WCR adults from habitats as typically found in the vicinity of airports in southern Hungary in 2003 and 2004. After each release of 4000–6300 marked WCR, recaptures were recorded three times using non‐baited yellow sticky traps at 30–305 m from the release point and sex pheromone‐baited transparent sticky traps placed at 500–3500 m. Both the negative exponential and negative power law models in non‐log form presented the best overall fit to the numbers of recaptured adults (1% recapture rate). The negative exponential model in log form presented the best fit to the data in the tail. The models suggested that half of the dispersing WCR adults travelling along a given bearing will have travelled between 117 and 425 m and 1% of the adults between 775 and 8250 m after 1 day. An individual‐based model of dispersal and mortality over a generation of WCR adults indicated that 9.7–45.3% of the adults would escape a focus zone (where maize is only grown once in 3 consecutive years) of 1 km radius and 0.6–21% a safety zone (where maize is only grown once in 2 consecutive years) of 5 km radius and consequently current European Commission (EC) measures are inadequate for the eradication of WCR in Europe. Although buffer zones large enough to allow eradication would be economically unpalatable, an increase of the minimum width of the focus zone from 1 to 5 km and the safety zone from 5 to 50 km would improve the management of local dispersal.

The Western Corn Rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Col., Chrysomelidae), is an invasive alien pest of maize, Zea mays, in Europe. The suitability of 14 fluorescent powders for mass-marking the adults was studied in laboratory and in field cages. The visual discrimination between remaining spots of each colour on the beetles was investigated under ultraviolet (UV) light, as well as their retention time and the influences of those colours on the beetle survival and flight take-off response. The two best recognizable orange colours (i.e. of Radiant Colour and of Fiesta Colours Swada) were proposed for field experiments in first priority, followed by an orange and a yellow (both Magruder Colour), another yellow (Fiesta) and a pink (Radiant), as all did not affect beetle survival and flight take-off response and were recognizable under UV light for at least 10 days in the field. In contrast, the colours yellow and green (Radiant), red and blue (Magruder), yellow (Ciba Geigy) and pink (Fiesta) were unsuitable, because they either quickly disappeared from the beetles or adversely affected beetle survival or flight take-off response. For mass releases with differently marked beetles, only the use of a single orange colour together with a single yellow colour or the use of a pink colour together with a yellow colour can be used since few spots can clearly be discriminated from each other under UV light.

Dispersal plays a key role in the adaptation of species. It has been suggested that even in a stable and predictable environment, it is essential for any given population to "send" a certain portion of its offspring to disperse (referred as evolutionary stable dispersal rate). Although the literature on the flight behaviour of one of the major maize pests, the western corn rootworm, is rich, relatively little is known about its inter-field movements under field conditions. In the present study, inter-field movement of adult beetles was observed in Central-Europe under quasi-isolated conditions of infested continuous and un-infested first year maize fields, and related to candidate predictor variables. Percent of immigrants (net percent of adults within a given population leaving their natal maize field and arriving in first-year maize) varied greatly across years and locations (0.4-93.3%, mean = 38.7%). Results of the study provided field evidence of the assumption that western corn rootworm performs density dependent inter-field movement. Independent from pest densities, it appeared that about 1/3 of an adult beetle population always leaves its natal maize field, which likely allows the species to find new food sources and oviposition sites. The distance between maize fields and the phenological status of maize influenced inter-field movements but at a much less extent than it could have been expected from laboratory research findings.