Management of flatheaded appletree borer (Chrysobothris femorata Olivier) in woody ornamental nursery production with a winter cover crop

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The flatheaded appletree borer (Chrysobothris femorata Olivier) (FHAB) is a native pest of fruit, shade and nut trees throughout the United States. Use of cover crops is an effective pest management tool for some key insect pests in vegetable and cereal production systems, but its impact in woody ornamental production systems has not been investigated. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a winter cover crop for management of FHAB in nursery production. Red maple trees (Acer rubrum L.) grown under four treatment regimes (cover crop, cover crop + insecticide, bare row and bare row + insecticide) were evaluated for damage by FHAB and impact on tree growth parameters. RESULTS:The cover crop reduced FHAB damage, with results equivalent to standard imidacloprid treatments. The reduction in FHAB attacks in cover crop treatments may be due to microclimate changes at preferred oviposition sites, trunk camouflage or interference with access to oviposition sites. Tree growth was reduced in the cover crop treatments due to competition for resources. CONCLUSION: Physical blockage of oviposition sites by cover crops and subsequent microclimate changes protected against FHAB damage. Therefore, cover crops can be an alternative to chemical insecticides.

Evaluation of Systemic Imidacloprid and Herbicide Treatments on Flatheaded Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Management in Field Nursery Production

“…The height of flatheaded borer damage observed in these studies is consistent with previous reports ( Seagraves et al 2013 , LeBude and Adkins 2014 , Dawadi et al 2019 ) with nearly 50% of damage in weed-free trees observed below 20 cm, 27% between 20 and 40 cm, and 10% from 40 to 60 cm. Damage was mostly oriented in a southerly direction; however, larval damage in trees sheltered by weeds tended to extend farther into the western and northeastern quadrants of the trunk circumference ( Table 6 ).…”

“…1 ). Dawadi et al (2019) observed as much as a 4°C greater average trunk temperature on the sunny side of weed-free trunks compared with trunks shaded by cover crops.…”

“…compared with just 2,061 trees at the labeled 8.7 ml/cm labeled rate. Dawadi et al (2019) also found the half-rate of imidacloprid to be effective in protecting 99% of the treated trees for 2 yr. Second, lower effective imidacloprid rates reduce insecticide cost, as well as lessen the impact to both the environment and nontarget organisms ( Bonmatin et al 2015 ). Herbaceous crops only uptake ~1.6 to 20% of imidacloprid residues available in the soil ( Sur and Stork 2003 ), but removal rates in this study are unknown since we did not measure imidacloprid soil concentrations directly.…”

Impact of Cover Crop Usage on Soilborne Diseases in Field Nursery Production

“…Another reason for soilborne disease suppressiveness with the usage of a cover crop can be soil moisture and/or soil temperature. In our red maple production field, the soil temperature (7 cm below the soil surface) was monitored, and it was found that cover crop treatment had lowered the soil temperature compared to the bare treatment [32]. Similarly, lower soil moisture was recorded during the cover crop growing period in cover crop soil compared to bare soil.…”

“…The main goal of this research was to investigate the impact of cover crops on soilborne disease suppressiveness. The choice of cover crops for a multi-year production cycle was based on research to be able to protect red maple (Acer rubrum L.) trunks from arthropod oviposition activity [30][31][32]. Soils from field experimental plots with and without cover crops were evaluated before (pre-disked) and after lightly disking (post-disked) the cover crop into the row middles adjacent to the red maple planting.…”