Sift through at least 20 shovels of soil from different locations in the field to check for wireworms. An average of one wireworm per shovel of soil indicates a population of more than 20,000 wireworms per acre. A suggested economic injury level for corn is an average of 2 or more wireworms per 10 shovels of soil. At this level, it probably will be profitable to use a preventive treatment.
I definitely found that many wireworms!
Just checked my "half potato" Wireworm trap and sure enough - found TWO Wireworms starting to feed! It works! The other half potato had nothing but it's been dry so not rotting. The rotting emits CO2 that attracts the Wireworms....
So it turns out that Wireworm is a very common "pest" for agriculture and the wireworm prefers grass roots. So I just cleared out a small lawn area of brown thatch with root rot - sulfur smell - and sure enough I found the Wireworm in ALL its glory!! I found the baby larva (about a dozen) and the mature larva (two years old - about half a dozen) - and I even found an adult Click Beetle in the soil!! I also found a few other species of beetle grubs - I think the Sod webworm maybe or the Cut worm - and even a strange one that I had read about...
The research suggests that adults will often be present overwintering in the same locations as the larva,Wow that is the WEIRD thing I found - the top image - it is the POST-wireworm stage of the Pupate to TURN into a Click Beetle!!
yep I even found the Adult Click Beetle in the soil - it must have not successfully "emerged." fascinating!! I found the EGGS also - and so I found ALL stages of the Wireworm!!
Wow I didn't realize the Click Beetle was so big!!
I found one and had no idea it was a Click Beetle.
creepy FACE of the Wireworm Larva
https://m.farms.com/field-guide/pests/melanotus-communis.aspx
Research suggests that females prefer particular soil types and soil moisture regimes for egg-laying.
https://extension.umn.edu/corn-pest-management/wireworms-and-corn
Once they develop into click beetles, they only live three or four weeks – just enough time to mate and lay eggs. They make a clicking noise if they land on their backs. A snapping mechanism pops them into the air so they can get back on their feet.
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