Member Symposium
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Poster
Mika Pagani (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
Virginia Tech
Christiansburg, Virginia
Wireworms, the larval stage of click beetles, are a common soil-dwelling pest causing economic damage across U.S root and tuber crops. Their feeding damage causes significant downgrade in crop quality, reducing grower profits and in some instances, total loss of marketable yield. With chemical control limited, the use of fungal based control methods allows for an added option within the smart agricultural industry. Preliminary evidence suggests that novel entomopathogenic fungi exhibit efficacy against certain wireworm species in lab experiments. However, little is published about granular application methods in terms of field efficacy. This study assessed the infectivity of varying Beauveria bassiana granular formulations against wireworms in an outdoor experimental system. The results obtained suggest rice granular formulations yield the largest wireworm mortality parentage. Although, when compared to other sensitive insect hosts such as tenebrionids, the comparative resistance of wireworms to infection suggests further examination is necessary.