ARABLE: Field evaluation of synthetic blends of semiochemicals for monitoring and control of wireworms

线虫是欧洲和北美谷类作物和根菜类蔬菜的主要害虫。种子处理和其他接触杀虫剂用于保护作物免受幼虫取食的损害。然而，目前的化学品选择正在欧洲被撤回，何时以及是否可以注册一种新的土壤杀虫剂用于线虫管理是非常值得怀疑的。化学信息素（自然产生的影响发育和行为的化学品，如不同的挥发物）在所需水平上对环境无害，可以为土壤害虫管理提供“绿色”替代办法。与地上昆虫相似，土壤节肢动物也被气相中的根挥发物吸引或排斥，并在土壤孔隙中扩散。二氧化碳是一种通用的引诱剂，而根部释放的挥发物是更具体的中等范围信号，有助于土壤害虫跟踪和找到它们的宿主植物。我们已经从作物根部确定并创造了合成挥发物混合物，在实验室行为研究中吸引线虫。我们现在的目标是测试它们是否在更现实的设置中保持其吸引人的特性，即农田。本项目的主要目的是使用这些合成混合物（诱饵）进行现场试验，以检查它们是否能够吸引大量的线虫进入我们将在项目期间建造的含有发芽种子的陷阱。这些陷阱与诱饵和没有诱饵将被沉入土壤中的农田，并定期检查捕获的线虫。一方面，我们想看看有诱饵的陷阱是否比没有诱饵的陷阱捕获更多的线虫，这将表明它们适合在播种前进行精确的害虫监测。另一方面，我们将测试诱虫器，看看它们是否能捕获足够的线虫以减少作物损失，我们将比较它们与杀虫剂处理的性能。这将告诉我们，如果陷阱与诱饵可以取代农药，并提供一个替代的线虫管理tool.The拟议的研究是一个重要的一步，在发展监测和吸引和杀死策略的线虫管理，这也可以扩展到其他土壤害虫的管理。

Wireworms are major pests of cereal crops and root vegetables in Europe and also in North America. Seed treatments and other contact insecticides are used to protect crops from larval feeding damage. However, current chemical options are being withdrawn in Europe and it is very questionable when and if at all a new soil insecticide could be registered for wireworm management. Semiochemicals (naturally occurring development- and behaviour-modifying chemicals, such as different volatiles) are not harmful to the environment at the level they are required and can provide a "green" alternative for soil pest management. Similar to aboveground insects, soil-dwelling arthropods are also attracted to or repelled by root volatiles that occur in the gas phase and diffuse in soil pores. Whereas carbon dioxide is a universal attractant, root-emitted volatiles are more specific, mid-range signals that help soil pests to track and find their host plant.We have identified from crop roots and created synthetic volatile blends that attract wireworms in laboratory behavioural studies. We now aim to test if they retain their attractive properties in more realistic setups, i.e. crop fields. The main aim of this project is to thus carry out field trials with these synthetic blends (lures) to check if they are able to attract large numbers of wireworms into traps, containing germinating seeds, that we will build during the project. Such traps with and without the lures will be sunk in the soil in agricultural fields and checked regularly for captured wireworms. On the one hand, we want to see if traps with lures catch more wireworms then those without lures, which will indicate that they are suitable for precise pest monitoring before seed sowing. On the other hand, we will test lured traps to see if they can catch enough wireworms to reduce crop damage, and we will compare their performance with pesticide treatments. This will tell us if traps with lures can replace pesticides and provide growers with an alternative wireworm management tool.The proposed study is an important step in the development of monitoring and attract-and-kill strategies for wireworm management, which could also be extended to the management of other soil-dwelling pests.