Hunting Billbug (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Life Cycle and Damaging Life Stage in North Carolina, with Notes on Other Billbug Species Abundance

In the southeastern United States, hunting billbug, Sphenophorus venatus vestitus Chittenden, adults are often observed in turfgrass, but our knowledge of their biology and ecology is limited. Field surveys and experiments were conducted to determine the species composition, life cycle, damaging lif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic entomology 2012-12, Vol.105 (6), p.2045-2051
Main Authors: Doskocil, J. P, Brandenburg, R. L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adults
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Coleoptera - growth & development
Control
Exploitation and management of natural biological resources (hunting, fishing and exploited populations survey, etc.)
field experimentation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Generalities
Herbivory
HORTICULTURAL ENTOMOLOGY
hunting billbug
Insecta
Invertebrates
Larva
larvae
lawns and turf
North Carolina
Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection
Poaceae
Population Density
Protozoa. Invertebrates
Seasons
Soil - parasitology
soil profiles
soil sampling
species diversity
Sphenophorus venatus vestitus
surveys
trapping
turf grasses
turfgrass
warm season
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Summary:In the southeastern United States, hunting billbug, Sphenophorus venatus vestitus Chittenden, adults are often observed in turfgrass, but our knowledge of their biology and ecology is limited. Field surveys and experiments were conducted to determine the species composition, life cycle, damaging life stage, and distribution of billbugs within the soil profile in turfgrass in North Carolina. Linear pitfall trapping revealed six species of billbug, with the hunting billbug making up 99.7% of all beetles collected. Data collected from turf plus soil sampling suggest that hunting billbugs have two overlapping generations per year in North Carolina and that they overwinter as both adults and larvae. Field experiments provided evidence that adult hunting billbugs are capable of damaging warm season turfgrasses.
ISSN:0022-0493
1938-291X
0022-0493
DOI:10.1603/EC12110