Annual Bluegrass Weevils

Diagnosis and Decision Making for Sustainable Annual Bluegrass Weevil Management 4 Linear pitfall traps These traps are a passive method for monitoring insect activity or movement. Traps allow for activity monitoring over time rather than at single points in time, but can be labor intensive to install and remove. They also require maintenance (debris removal from trap surface and emptying of trap contents). If done correctly, they are a good way to detect the first emergence of ABW adults and to track the duration of the emergence period. Materials (Figure 4) • PVC pipe (2” diameter x 3’ long) with slits (0.5” wide x 10” long) cut in the pipe running lengthwise the full length of pipe. Evenly spaced 10” slits prevent pipe opening from collapsing. • PVC end cap to close one end of trap • 32 oz. and 8 oz. deli containers for trap catch • Soapy water or propylene glycol for killing trap catch • Plastic board for trap lid. This can be painted green to blend in with turf if installing at playing surface edge. Method • Trap should be installed by trenching a shallow strip of soil adjacent to likely overwintering area and burying the PVC pipe. Install pipe so that the entrance slits face up and only the top portion of the pipe shows above ground. • Collection container at end of trap can be installed using a cup cutter. Vacuum sampling While most expensive up front, vacuum sampling is easy to conduct and can be used across large areas of turf. Only minor modifications need to be made to the vacuum for insect sampling. As with other methods, temperature will impact effectiveness and effort should be made to conduct vacuum sampling at a similar air temperature above 10°C at each event. Materials • Any standard leaf blower/vacuum • Insect collection insert for vacuum tube • This can be made out of a variety of durable and lightweight materials commonly found at any hardware or grocery store. Figure 5 highlights a few examples • For more detailed instructions on making a vacuum basket insert for your blower-vac, see the NYS BMP website publications page. Figure 4. Top – PVC (2” diameter x 3’ length) showing routed 0.5” linear slits for insect collection and end cap (left). Bottom – Fully set linear pitfall trap showing PVC trap tube and collection vial (right). Trap shows tops painted green for installation near playing surfaces. Figure 5. Different designs for vacuum basket. A – Thin- walled PCV pipe combined with aluminum flashing, rivets and adhesive foam rubber. B – Aluminum flashing and rivets. C – Large plastic jar with center cut out of lid. In all designs, the basket is cut on an angle to match that of the vacuum tube, and steel window mesh is fitted to the end of the basket to trap specimens. A B C