Flight status of invasive European Elateridae in southwestern British Columbia
Citation
Kabaluk, T., Douglas, H., van Herk, W. 2018. Flight status of invasive European Elateridae in southwestern British Columbia. Western Forum on Pest Management. October 18, 2018.
Plain language summary
Wireworm larvae are serious pests of agricultural crops. Click beetles are the adult stage, and are not known to fly to a significant degree, except on Vancouver Island where they appear to fly abundantly. Mass flight has implications for the spread of wireworms and strategies for their control. Differences in flight status are also of ecological interest. For example, are flyers genetically distinct with potential to colonize areas where flyers are not known? Are flyers the results of changes to climate? We characterised the differences in flight status of click beetles from selected locations in southwestern BC to establish a baseline for continued study.
Abstract
Agriotes lineatus click beetles (adults of pestilent wireworms) have been reported to fly en masse on Vancouver Island, while minimally or not at all in other geographic locations in southwestern BC. Flying beetles might be a genetically unique ecotype, or caused by climatic factors - possibly those associated with climate change. Crawling and flying A. lineatus and A. obscurus were trapped during the spring 2018, revealing significant differences in flight status among geographic locations for both species.