Distribution of Elateridae and Tipulidae Pest Species in an Agricultural Landscape
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University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2009 DISTRIBUTION OF ELATERIDAE AND TIPULIDAE PEST SPECIES IN AN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE HICKS, HELEN MARY http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2394 University of Plymouth All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. DISTRIBUTION OF ELATERIDAE AND TIPU LIDAE PEST SPECIES IN AN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE By HELEN MARY HICKS A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science April 2009 2 DISTRI1 BUTION OF ELATERIDAE AND TIPU LIDAE P1EST SPECIES IN AN AG:RICULTURAL LANDSCAPE H ELEN MARY HICKS Wireworms and leatherjackets, the larvae·of click beetles <Agriotes sppl and crane flies ( Tipu/a sppl respectively, are subterranean pests of grass, cereals and vegetables and are present throughout the U K and Europe. Soil cores, pheromone traps and water traps were used' to measure populations. The populations of larvae were compared to those of adults. Leatherjackets and crane flies were found to be correlated, as were A. obscurusclick beetle and wireworm populations. Annual variation in trap catches was observed. Populations were related at a number of spatial scales to cultural, physical and chemical variables. Spatial structure of populations was identified at all scales (sub field, field and landscape) using SADIE analysis, Moran's I and Taylor's Power Law, but the ,presence or absence of discernable spatial structure was dependant on species, population and annual variation. Environmental variableswere linked·to populations using multiple regression; the most common variable for all species were the number of years in grass, but the populations of each species and life stage were defined by 3 its own set of variables. Important population defining variables were assessed as potential organically compliant cultural pest control methods. These included wlling, cultivation and crop rotation, but none could be definitively .recommended as control methods without further work. In addition, pheromone traps for click beetles were characterised, it was found that the three species of click beetles had differential speeds of travel and the traps had differing effective ranges. A. lineatuswere found to travel the fastest, A. obscurus slower and A. sputatortravelled slowest. The maximum sampling range (over 30 days) was greatest for A. lineatus, less for A. obscurus and least for A. sputator, 4 Index of contents Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................... 16 1.1 Pests in Agriculture and Horticulture..................................................... 16 1.1.1 Leatherjackets as pests ............................................................................................ 19 1.1.2 Wireworms as pests ................................................................................................. 20 1.2 Leather}acket Biology and Ecology ........................................................ 21 1. 2.1 Leatherjacket life cycle ............................................................................................ 21 1.2.2 Distribution and factors affecting distribution of leatherjackets ................................. 23 1.3 Wireworrn Biology and Ecology............................................................. 25 1.3.1 Wireworm lifecycle .................................................................................................. 25 1.3.2 Distribution and factors affecting distribution of wireworm ....................................... 26 1. 4 Control Methods ................................................................................... 30 1.4.1 Chemical control ..................................................................................................... 30 1.4.2 Current cultural control methods .............................................................................. 33 1.5 Future work ......................................................................................... 39 Chapter 2 Investigation of landscape factors influencing the distribution of four pest species in the UK ..................................................................................... 42 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 42 2.2 Methods ............................................................................................... 45 2.2.1 Spatial distribution .................................................................................................. 47 2.2.2 Annual variation ...................................................................................................... 47 2.2.3 Land use ................................................................................................................. 48 2.2.4 Distance from watercourse ....................................................................................... 48 2.3 Results ................................................................................................. 50 2.3.1 Spatial distribution .................................................................................................. 50 2.3.2 Annual variation ...................................................................................................... 57 2.3.3 Land use ................................................................................................................. 57 2.3.4 Distance from watercourse ....................................................................................... 59 2. 4 Discussion ............................................................................................ 62 2.4.1 Click beetles ............................................................................................................ 62 2.4.2 Crane flies ............................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 3 Spatial structure of larval pest populations ................................... 70 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 70 3.2 Methods ............................................................................................... 72 3.2.1 Systematic sampling ................................................................................................ 73 3.2.2 Mean variance relationships .................................................................................... 75 3.2.3 SADIE Analyses ...................................................................................................... 76 3.2.4 Correlations between larval distribution and edaphic factors ..................................... 77 3.3 Results ................................................................................................. 78 3.3.1 Mean Variance Relationships ................................................................................... 78 3.3.2 SADIE Red-blue plots ............................................................................................. 78 3.3.3 Relating leatherjacket and wireworm distribution to environmental variables ............ 84 3. 4 Discussion ............................................................................................ 86 5 Chapter 4 Survey of environmental factors affecting Agriotesand Tlpulid distribution 91 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 91 4.2 Methods ............................................................................................... 94 4.2.1 Soil core sampling for leatherjackets and wireworms ................................................ 94 4.2.2 Pheromone traps for click beetles ............................................................................. 95 4.2.3 Crane fly survey ....................................................................................................... 95 4.2.4 Field attributes ........................................................................................................ 95 4.2.5 Analyses .................................................................................................................. 99 4.2.6 Data processing ....................................................................................................... 99 4.3 Results ............................................................................................... 1 01 4.3.1 Summary of insect catch ........................................................................................ 101 4.3.2 Larval and adult relationships ................................................................................ 103 4.3.3 Results of stepwise multiple regression for factors influencing the distribution of wireworms and click beetles ................................................................................................ 107 4.3.4 Results of stepwise multiple regression for factors influencing the distribution of leatherjackets and crane flies .............................................................................................