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Seasonally contrasting activity of African black beetle, Heteronychus arator (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): implications for populations, pest status and management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

J.N. Matthiesse  and
S.E. Learmonth
J.N. Matthiesse*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Entomology, Private Bag, PO Wembley, WA 6014, Australia
S.E. Learmonth
Affiliation:
Horticultural Research Centre, Agriculture Western Australia, Manjimup, WA 6258, Australia
*
* Fax: +61 8 9333 6646 E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Flight and surface activity of the African black beetle, Heteronychus arator (Fabricius), detected by pitfall, light and window traps, was seasonally reversed. High surface activity relative to flight occurred in spring when beetles were mature, while relatively higher levels of flight occurred in autumn when they were immature. Pitfall trap captures were male-dominated in spring and female-dominated in autumn, and were a poor estimator of adult density. Light trap captures were consistently female-dominated. Although autumn flight was dispersive and inferred to have some role in population regulation, it was largely localized within the usual pasture habitat of the species. Some beetles flew into irrigated potato crops in autumn, but not specifically, as beetle abundance was consistently less than in surrounding dry pasture. High surface activity indicates spring is a strategic time for surface-applied control measures to prevent increase of H. arator in the next generation, a less disruptive alternative to conventional soil-incorporated insecticide directed at the new generation's larvae in summer. Such an approach would be best aimed early in the upsurge of activity, as most of the season's cohort of eggs was laid by the time surface activity peaked in mid-spring.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 88 , Issue 4 , August 1998 , pp. 443 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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