IMPROVING INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT OF WIREWORMS IN CEREAL CROPS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1011104
• Grant No.: 2016-70006-25829
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $324,983.00
• Proposal No.: 2016-07594
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2020
• Grant Year: 2016
• Program Code: [ARDP]- Applied Research and Development Program

Recipient Organization
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
240 FRENCH ADMINISTRATION BLDG
PULLMAN,WA 99164-0001

Performing Department
Entomology

Non Technical Summary
Cereals are foundational crops in the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West regions of the Unites States, contributing over $1.65 billion annually to the regional economy. Cereal production, however, is threatened by wireworms, a group of insects that feed voraciously belowground. Most growers manage wireworms with prophylactic seed treatments of neonicotinoid insecticides because few other options are available. Our goal is to evaluate alternative integrated pest management (IPM) tactics for wireworms in cereal crops that would allow growers to reduce their use of prophylactic seed-applied neonicotinoids in cereal crops. We will achieve three complementary objectives: (1) Investigate the use of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoid seed treatments in wheat and barley crops; (2) Examine whether the use of pesticides in rotational legume crops provides benefits for wireworm control in subsequent cereal crops; and (3) Develop an extension program focused on wireworms. Overall, our project will develop new tactics for wireworms that are cost-effective and targeted for specific species and environmental conditions. Our research could have broad applicability beyond cereals as the resurgence of wireworms is a matter of national concern, with over 45 crops affected. Our project addresses three CPPM Focus Areas: (1) "Plant Protection Tactics" (by developing IPM tactics for a major crop pest); (2) "Diversified IPM Systems" (by evaluating IPM strategies that integrate biological, cultural, and insecticidal controls); and (3) "Developing the Next Generation of IPM Scientists" (by training two MS students in IPM tactics and extension).

Animal Health Component

85%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

15%

Applied

85%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
211	1549	1130	45%
215	1549	1130	45%
216	1549	1130	10%

Knowledge Area
211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants; 215 - Biological Control of Pests Affecting Plants; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
1549 - Wheat, general/other;

Field Of Science
1130 - Entomology and acarology;

Keywords

elateridae

barley

biological control

cereal crops

fungi

nematode

pathogens

wheat

wireworm

Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of our project is to evaluate alternative IPM tactics for wireworms in cereal crops that may allow growers to reduce their use of, or replace, prophylactic treatments of seed-applied neonicotinoids. To meet this goal, we will achieve three complementary objectives of immediate significance:(1) Investigate the use of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoid seed treatments in wheat and barley crops (Research Objective)(2) Examine whether the use of pesticides in rotational legume crops provides benefits for wireworm control in subsequent cereal crops (Research Objective)(3) Develop an extension program focused on wireworms (Extension Objective)

Project Methods
(A) Objective 1 - Investigate the use of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to seed treatments in wheat and barley crops (Research Objective):(i) On-farm trials.We will investigate the application of fungi (M. anisopliae) and nematodes (S. carpocapsae) for wireworm control. We will also examine potential synergistic, additive, or antagonistic properties of these pathogens in combination with neonicotinoid seed treatments. We will establish replicated field plots at six locations (farms) in Washington and Idaho with a known history of wireworm damage. Two locations will be established that are dominated by each of the three major species in our field surveys (L. californicus, L. infuscatus, S. pruininus). On each farm we will establish 64, 2 × 3 m plots. Half of the plots will be planted to spring wheat and half to spring barley. Treatments will be applied to these plots in a randomized complete block design, with four replicates per treatment per crop. The eight treatments are: (1) Control; (2) Nematode only; (3) Fungi only; (4) Nematode + fungi; (5) Insecticide only; (6) Nematode + insecticide; (7) Fungi + insecticide; (8) Nematode + fungi + insecticide. The experiment will be conducted in both 2017 and 2018, for a total of 128 experimental units in each farm (across both years.From all plots we will measure wireworm densities before planting and then monthly throughout the growing season. Collected larvae will be identified to species.To measure the persistence of our pathogens, soil infectivity will be assessed monthly by taking a 100 g soil sample from the center of each plot. In the laboratory, each soil sample will then be assigned to an individual deli cup. After adding soil, we will introduce 10 waxworm larvae (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) to each cup and keep them for 7 days in the dark at room temperature, after which waxworms will be recollected and mortality assessed. At the end of each field season we will work with participating growers to harvest the plots in order to evaluate grain yield, test weight, grain protein percentage, and economic returns.(ii) Greenhouse trials.All experiments will be conducted in 1ft2pots containing 4 wheat plants. Soil types will include sandy loam and clay soils collected from farmlands located in eastern and southeastern Idaho, respectively, as well as three soil media mixed in the greenhouse, using different rates of sand and peatmoss. Greenhouse mixes will consist of sand-dominated (sand:peatmoss, 3:1), peatmoss-dominated (peatmoss:sand, 3:1 [high organic matter]), and a 1:1 mix of sand and peatmoss. Each soil will receive five treatments: (1) control; (2) nematode + fungi; (3) nematode only; (4) fungi only; and (5) neonicotinoid seed treatment. Nematodes and fungi will be applied onto the soil using common field rates and incorporated into the first 3 in of soil to mimic surface application followed by shallow tillage; seed treatments will be performed with the highest allowed label rates. The number of damaged plants, root and foliar biomass, and wireworm status (dead or alive) will be evaluated two months after planting. All wireworms will be recollected from individual pots using a sieve and inspected under dissecting microscope to confirm infestations by pathogens. Experiments will be repeated in two temporal blocks across 2017 and 2018.The second experiment will evaluate whether the efficacy of nematodes and fungi might be improved by the addition of diatomaceous earth (DE). Experiments will be set up in pots filled with sand-dominated soil and planted with four wheat seeds. Each temporal block will include eight replicates for each of the following treatments: (1) untreated control; (2) DE control - DE but no biological control agent; (3) nematode + DE; (4) nematode only; (5) fungi + DE; and (6) fungi only. The number of damaged plants, root and shoot biomass, as well as the wireworm status (dead or alive) will be evaluated two months after planting. Experiments will be conducted in three temporal blocks across 2018 and 2019, for a total of 144 experimental units across the entire experiment.(B) Objective 2 - Examine whether use of pesticides in rotational crops provides benefits for wireworm control in subsequent cereal crops (Research Objective).We will set up a two-year experimental trial with spring wheat and spring barley following dry pea (legume) crops. Replicated plots, approximately 6m wide and 18m long, will be established at 4 different locations (farms) in Washington and Idaho with a known history of damage from either L. californicus or L. infuscatus, with two locations per species. At each farm, plots will be arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replicates per each of eight treatments. In the first year of the experiment (2018) all of the plots will be planted to dry peas (variety Banner). These plots will be randomly treated with no insecticide (control) or with an in-furrow application of Capture at the recommended field rate. In the second year of the experiment (2019) the plots will be rotated to cereals (either wheat or barley), which will either be treated with no insecticide for wireworms or with a seed-applied neonicotinoid. In both 2018 and 2019 we will work with participating growers to harvest the plots at the end of the growing season.In 2018 we will measure the yield and economic returns over costs for peas. To determine economic returns over costs, the costs of treatments will be subtracted from gross returns (price × yield); this will be calculated per plot. In 2019 we will measure the yields of wheat or barley, and economic returns over costs, as in Objective 1; economic returns over costs for the entire two-year rotation for each plot will also be calculated. In both years we will measure wireworm abundance prior to planting and monthly thereafter as in Objective 1.(C) Objective 3 - Develop an extension program focused on wireworms (Extension Objective)(i) Small grains website. Crowder and Esser will periodically post blogs and videos updating growers on our research, as well as publishing "Timely Topics" on wireworms that will be posted to our website, smallgrains.wsu.edu. We will also upload all publications and presentations from the project team to the website.(ii)Outreach Presentations. We will present project results at local grower meetings and regional meetings including the Washington State University Wheat Academy, the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association Conference, the Tri-State Grain Convention, and the Far West Agribusiness Conference. One of our research locations will be the Wilke Research Farm, managed by co-PI Esser; this site will serve as a demonstration plot during the annual Wilke Field Day. Rashed will teach growers principles of wireworm IPM at the annual cereal schools in Eastern and South-Central Idaho, which encompasses a 4 day long tour in 5 different locations.(iii) Publications. We will publish annual articles in the popular press (Capital Press) and the industry trade journal (Wheat Life). Our goal is to publish 2-3 extension bulletins over the duration of the project, including a capstone titled "Wireworm IPM in Cereal Crops".(iv) Wireworm Symposium. In the final year of the project we will host a regional wireworm symposium during the Pacific Northwest Farm Forum at the Spokane Agricultural Expo. The PIs will deliver talks on the research from this project, and we will invite wireworm experts from throughout the United States. This will provide an opportunity to spread cutting edge wireworm research to a mass audience. Funding will be provided by the Washington Grain Commission.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of our project is cereal and legume producers in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Commodity groups have identified wireworms as a priority research area, and in particular desire more effective and economical control measures for wireworms. Our project seeks to involve producers at all levels including the establishment of research priorities, the evaluation of operational aspects of new IPM practices, directly assisting with research trials, and helping to guide extension efforts. We are also targeting the cereal and legume crop industries by working with the Washington and Idaho Grain Commissions, and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Commission to share our results. More broadly, we are targeting academic audiences interested in wireworms nationally. Changes/Problems:We were unable to deliver field days we anticipated in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, but other than that we completed all objectives of the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over the course of the project PI Crowder supporteda postdoc on this grant while co-PI Rashed supportedtwograduate students on the project. One PhD student from Rashed's laboratory, Pooria Ensafi, graduated in 2018. Pooria's work was primarily based on work detailed in this project. A second student, Atoosa Nikoukar, was supported in 2019 and 2020. We have also supported five undergraduate technicians who have worked on the project. More broadly, each of these individuals across all the laboratories are being trained in field ecology, agricultural ecology, and pest management in agriculture. These individuals have also been given opportunities to work directly with growers, and are developing as scientists in the area of outreach and extension. Finally, all individuals on the project have been given opportunities to attend academic conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our project generated multiple journal articles detailing our greenhouse and field work on the effects of entomopathogen treatments in different soil environments as well as papers detailing our assays with Capture insecticide in legumes. We presented an overview of our project at the 2018 and 2019 Wheat Academies in Pullman, WA, events that each attracted nearly 80 growers/industry representatives for two days. Throughout the project we updated growers by presenting our results at the annual meetings of the Washington and Idaho Grain Commission, and as mentioned earlier we have delivered information through the smallgrains.wsu.edu website and by producing fourpodcasts.Finally, we presented results from the project at academic conferences What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? (1) Investigate the use of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoid seed treatments in wheat and barley crops (Research Objective) Over the course of the project we completed this goal successfully. First,PI Crowder and co-PI Esser conducted three years oflarge-scale field trials on 4 farms in Washington and Idaho state examining impacts of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoids. On each farm, we had a randomized design with plots either treated with nothing (control), insecticides, pathogens, or both insecticides and pathogens. We sampled wireworm populations throughout the year, and measured yield and plant quality at the end of the year. Results show that our pathogen treatments did provide some suppressive effects towards wireworms that improved yields and plant quality, and these results have been published. While these treatments do not appear as effective as insecticides, combinations of biological control agents and insecticides may provide more effective wireworm control. We have completed a manuscript detailing these results, which we expect to submit for publication by the end of 2020. Second, we completed a manuscript detailing the impacts of entomopathogenic nematodes on wireworms in field trials. We show that one fungal species, Metarhizium anisopliae, and one nematode species, Steinernema carpocapsae, provided considerably more mortality than other species. Species pools that included at least one of these species caused high wireworm mortality and increased grain yields. We thus show that the species of entomopathogen is important to consider for control. Results of these trials were published this past year in the journal Biological Control Thirds, co-PI Rashed and his laboratory successfully completed the laboratory experiments described in the proposal. His laboratory conducted experiments examining the effects of entomopathogenic nematodes in different soil environments, and found that entomopathogens were more effective in sandy soils. Moreover, he found that adding diatomaceous earth could make nematode treatments more effective. Some of this research was published in J. Economc Entomology, and we expect to produce one additional publications in early 2021. (2) Examine whether the use of pesticides in rotational legume crops provides benefits for wireworm control in subsequent cereal crops (Research Objective) For this objective, we established three years of replicated trials on multiple farms where farmers had planted winter wheat following winter legumes. These legumes were treated with Capture insecticide, a newly registered insecticide for wireworm control. Wireworms were monitored throughout the spring of each year of the project. Our data from these threeyears of trials provides convincing evidence that applying Capture to peas does diminish the abundance of wireworm populations considerably. We found that this reduction occurs in large resident wireworms, but not eggs or small larvae, suggesting effects are strongest on resident wirewom populations. This work has been submitted for publication in the Journal of Economic Entomology. Our field experiments were complemented by greenhouse experiments in the laboratory of co-PI Rashed, who similarly examined the use of Capture in legumes for reducing wireworm populations in subsequent wheat crops. These experiments provide even more convincing evidence that this is a potentially viable strategy for growers to use in their fields. A manuscript detailing all of these findings was submitted in late 2020to Journal of Economic Entomology. (3) Develop an extension program focused on wireworms (Extension Objective) Our project team completed this objective. PI Crowder and co-PI Esser developedthe smallgrains.wsu.edu website with new information about wireworms. We also generated 4 podcasts on wireworms throughout the course of the project that were delivered to growers through this site. Our podcasts were downloaded by over 200 unique users in total. The site was also populated withextension bulletins and data from field trials. All the PIs gave talks in 2018 and 2019 (talks were less common in 2020 due to COVID) at grower meetings, field days, and academic conferences.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Andrews KR et al. (including Crowder DW and Rashed A) (2020) Wireworm (Coleoptera: Elateridae) genomic analysis reveals putative cryptic species, population structure, and adaptation to pest control. Communications Biology 3, 1-13
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Milosavljevic I, Esser AD, Rashed A, Crowder DW (2020) The composition of soil-dwelling pathogen communities mediates effects on wireworm herbivores and wheat productivity. Biological Control, 104317.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Rashed A, Crowder DW (2020) Effects of capture on population dynamics of wireworm herbivores. Journal of Economic Entomology, in review.

Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of our project is cereal and legume producers in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Commodity groups have identified wireworms as a priority research area, and in particular desire more effective and economical control measures for wireworms. Our project seeks to involve producers at all levels including the establishment of researchpriorities, the evaluation of operational aspects of new IPM practices, directly assisting with research trials, and helping to guide extension efforts. We are also targeting the cereal and legume crop industries by working with the Washington and Idaho Grain Commissions, and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Commission to share our results. More broadly, we are targeting academic audiences interested in wireworms nationally. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PI Crowder is currently supporting a postdoc on this grant; co-PI Rashed is similarly supporting a graduate student on the project. One PhD student from Rashed's laboratory, Pooria Ensafi, graduated in 2018. Pooria's work was primarily based on work detailed in this project. A second student, Atoosa Nikoukar, is now being supported on the project. We have also supported an undergraduate technician who is working on the project.More broadly, each of these individuals across all the laboratories are being trained in field ecology, agricultural ecology, and pest management in agriculture. These individuals have also been given opportunities to work directly with growers, and are developing as scientists in the area of outreach and extension. Finally, all individuals on the project have been given opportunities to attend academic conferences - this will continue over the course of the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We submitted two journal articles in2019detailing our greenhouse and field work on the effects of entomopathogen treatments in different soil environments, and a second paper detailing our assays with Capture insecticide in legumes.We also presented an overview of our project at the 2018Wheat Academy in Pullman, WA, an event that attracted nearly 80 growers/industry representatives for two days. We have also continued to update growers by presenting our results at the annual meetings of the Washington and Idaho Grain Commission, and as mentioned earlier we have delivered information through the smallgrains.wsu.edu website and by producing a podcast. Finally, we presented results from the project at academic conferences. In the coming years, as we develop new publications and bulletins from the project we will disseminate them broadly to communities of interest. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1 - In 2020we will harvest the final year of our winter wheat trials, and measure wireworm densities in each trial location. This will allow us to complete our three-year dataset on the effectiveness of entomopathogens on wireworm control in both the field and lab. Results from these trials will reveal which entomopathogens provide the most effective control, while also exploring how soil conditions and soil amendments affect entomopathogens. We expect to publish the results by the end of the project in at least two peer reviewed papers. Objective 2 - We have submitted a capstone paper detailing these trials, and field work related to this objective has been completed. We will work to complete this publication and hopefully get it accepted in 2020. Objective 3 - In 2019-2020we largely plan to continue our extension efforts. All the PIs will give presentations at field days and grower meetings, and we will continue to deliver content through unique avenues such as blog posts, timely topics (on the smallgrains.wsu.edu website) and podcasts. We also hope to publish informational videos on wireworm sampling and management. Finally, we plan to host a wireworm research symposium in 2020as a capstone to our extension efforts.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? (1) Investigate the use of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoid seed treatments in wheat and barley crops (Research Objective) In 2018-2019we made considerable progress towards this goal. First, PI Crowder and co-PI Esser conducted a thirdyear of large-scale field trials on 4 farms in Washington and Idaho state examining impacts of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoids. On each farm, we had a randomized design with plots either treated with nothing (control), insecticides, pathogens, or both insecticides and pathogens. We sampled wireworm populations throughout the year, and measured yield and plant quality at the end of the year. Preliminary results suggest that our pathogen treatments did provide some suppressive effects towards wireworms that improved yields and plant quality. While these treatments do not appear as effective as insecticides, combinations of biological control agents and insecticides may provide more effective wireworm control. We have nearly completed a manuscript detailing these results, which we expect to submit for publication in early 2020. Second, we completed a manuscript detailing the impacts of entomopathogenic nematodes on wireworms in field trials. We show that one fungal species, Metarhizium anisopliae, and one nematode species, Steinernema carpocapsae, provided considerably more mortality than other species. Species pools that included at least one of these species caused high wireworm mortality and increased grain yields. We thus show that the species of entomopathogen is important to consider for control. Results of these trials have been submitted for publication to the journal Biological control. Thirds, co-PI Rashed also made considerable progress in wrapping upthe greenhouse experiments. His laboratory conducted experiments examining the effects of entomopathogenic nematodes in different soil environments, and found that entomopathogens were more effective in sandy soils. Moreover, he found that adding diatomaceous earth could make nematode treatments more effective. Some of this research was published in J. Economc Entomology, and we expect to produce additional publications in 2020. (2) Examine whether the use of pesticides in rotational legume crops provides benefits for wireworm control in subsequent cereal crops (Research Objective) For this objective, at the end of 2018we established a second year of replicated trials on multiple farms where farmers had planted winter wheat following winter legumes. These legumes were treated with Capture insecticide, a newly registered insecticide for wireworm control. Wireworms were monitored throughout the spring of 2019. Our data from these two years of trials provides convincing evidence that applying Capture to peas does diminish the abundance of wireworm populations considerably. We found that this reduction occurs in large resident wireworms, but not eggs or small larvae, suggesting effects are strongest on resident wirewom populations. Our field experiments were complemented by greenhouse experiments in the laboratory of co-PI Rashed, who similarly examined the use of Capture in legumes for reducing wireworm populations in subsequent wheat crops. These experiments provide even more convincing evidence that this is a potentially viable strategy for growers to use in their fields. A manuscript detailing all of these findings was submitted in late 2019 to Journal of Economic Entomology. (3) Develop an extension program focused on wireworms (Extension Objective) Our project team has made considerable progress towards this goal. PI Crowder and co-PI Esser have continued to develop the smallgrains.wsu.edu website with new information about wireworms. As we continue to gather data from this study we will populate this site with extension bulletins and data from field trials. Esser and Crowder also recorded a podcast on wireworms to deliver information to growers in a novel and unique format; this podcast was downloaded by at over 100 unique users. All the PIs gave talks in 2019focused on wireworms at grower meetings, field days, and academic conferences. Moving forward, we plan to have a large wireworm symposium as a capstone to our extension efforts in 2020.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Nikoukar A, Crowder D, Esser AD, Lewis EE, Rashed A (2019) The effect of in-furrow application of pyrethroid in rotational crop in reducing wireworm damage in subsequent wheat. Annual Meeting of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Wieme RA, Carpenter-Boggs LA, Crowder DW, Murphy KM, Reganold JP (2019) Agronomic and economic performance of organic forage, quinoa, and grain crop rotations in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest, USA. Agricultural Systems 177, 102709
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Nikoukar A, Crowder D, Esser A, Lewis E, Rashed A (2019) The Effect of In-Furrow Application of Pyrethroid in Reducing Wireworm Damage in Subsequent Wheat. Journal of Economic Entomology, submitted.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: Milosavljevic I, Esser A, Rashed A, Crowder DW (2019) The composition of soil-dwelling pathogen communities mediates effects on wireworm herbivores and wheat productivity. Biological Control, submitted.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Crowder DW, Whaley D (2019) Managing wireworms in cereal cropping systems. 2018 Wheat Academy Workshop, Pullman, WA.

Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of our project is cereal and legume producers in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Commodity groups have identified wireworms as a priority research area, and in particular desire more effective and economical control measures for wireworms. Our project seeks to involve producers at all levels including the establishment of research priorities, the evaluation of operational aspects of new IPM practices, directly assisting with research trials, and helping to guide extension efforts. We are also targeting the cereal and legume crop industries by working with the Washington and Idaho Grain Commissions, and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Commission to share our results. More broadly, we are targeting academic audiences interested in wireworms nationally. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PI Crowder is currently supporting a postdoc on this grant; co-PI Rashed is similarly supporting a graduate student on the project. One PhD student from Rashed's laboratory, Pooria Ensafi, graduated in 2018. Pooria's work was primarily based on work detailed in this project. More broadly, each of these individuals across all the laboratories are being trained in field ecology, agricultural ecology, and pest management in agriculture. These individuals have also been given opportunities to work directly with growers, and are developing as scientists in the area of outreach and extension. Finally, all individuals on the project have been given opportunities to attend academic conferences - this will continue over the course of the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We published one journal article in 2018 detailing our greenhouse work on the effects of entomopathogen treatments in different soil environments. Our field trial results are still preliminary, and we have not yet published any new publications on the effects of nematodes or pesticides inrotational crops on wireworms from the field trials. However, we presented an overview of our project at the 2017Wheat Academy in Pullman, WA, an event that attracted nearly 80 growers/industry representatives for two days. We have also continued to update growers by presenting our results at the annual meetings of the Washington and Idaho Grain Commission, and as mentioned earlier we have delivered information through the smallgrains.wsu.edu website and by producing a podcast. In the coming years, as we develop new publications and bulletins from the project we will disseminate them broadly to communities of interest. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1 - In 2019 we will harvest the final year of our winter wheat trials, and measure wireworm densities in each trial location. This will allow us to complete our two-year dataset on the effectiveness of entomopathogens on wireworm control in both the field and lab. Results from these trials will reveal which entomopathogens provide the most effective control, while also exploring how soil conditions and soil amendments affect entomopathogens. We expect to publish the results by the end of the project in at least two peer reviewed papers. Co-PI Rashed has also continued to conduct greenhouse experiments investigating the effects of environmental context on wireworm control. Future studies in 2019 will look at how different soil conditions affect wireworm and entopathogen movement through the soil, and identify the combinations of treatments that work best in each soil environment. Objective 2 - As mentioned earlier, in 2019we will evaluate whether our insecticidal treatments applied to pea crops in 2017provided a benefit to the following year's wheat crop. We will monitor wireworms in the wheat crop throughout the 2019 season, and at harvest will measure yield and plant quality traits. This will complete the second temporal block of this experiment, the first block of which involved similar treatments applied in 2016 that were harvested in 2017. We expect to write up results of these experiments in 2019. Objective 3 - In 2018 we largely plan to continue our extension efforts. All the PIs will give presentations at field days andgrower meetings, and we will continue to deliver content through unique avenues such as blog posts, timely topics (on the smallgrains.wsu.edu website) and podcasts. We also hope to publish informational videos on wireworm sampling and management. Finally, we plan to host a wireworm research symposium in 2019 as a capstone to our extension efforts.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? (1) Investigate the use of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoid seed treatments in wheat and barley crops (Research Objective) In 2017-2018 we made considerable progress towards this goal. First, PI Crowder and co-PI Esser conducted a second year of large-scale field trials on 4 farms in Washington and Idaho state examining impacts of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement orreplacement to neonicotinoids. On each farm, we had a randomized design with plots either treated with nothing (control),insecticides, pathogens, or both insecticides and pathogens. We sampled wireworm populations throughout the year, and measured yield and plant quality at the end of the year. Preliminary results suggest that our pathogen treatments did provide some suppressive effects towards wireworms that improved yields and plant quality. While these treatments do not appear as effective as insecticides, combinations of biological control agents and insecticides may provide more effective wireworm control. We expect to publish one or more papers detailing these trails in 2019. Co-PI Rashed also made considerable progress on the greenhouse experiments. His laboratory conducted experiments examining the effects of entomopathogenic nematodes in different soil environments, and found that entomopathogens were more effective in sandy soils. Moreover, he found that adding diatomaceous earth could make nematode treatments more effective. Some of this research was published in J. Economc Entomology, and we expect to produce additional publications in 2019. (2) Examine whether the use of pesticides in rotational legume crops provides benefits for wireworm control in subsequent cereal crops (Research Objective) For this objective, at the end of 2017we established replicated trials on multiple farms where farmers had planted winterlegumes. We treated these legumes with Capture insecticide, a newly registered insecticide for wireworm control. Wireworms were monitored throughout the spring of 2018, and at the end of the year we planted the fields to winter wheat. Thus, final data from this objective will not be available until 2019 when we measure wireworm populations and harvest the winter wheat plots.Whileour data from the first year of these trials suggests that applying Capture to peas does diminish the abundance of wireworm populations considerably, we do not know yet if wheat yields are boosted. We expect to complete this objective on time in 2019. (3) Develop an extension program focused on wireworms (Extension Objective) Our project team has made considerable progresstowards this goal. PI Crowder and co-PI Esser have continued to develop the smallgrains.wsu.edu website with new information about wireworms. As we continue to gather data from this study we will populate this site with extension bulletinsand data from field trials. Esser and Crowder also recorded a podcaston wireworms to deliver information to growers in a novel and unique format; this podcast was downloaded by at over 100 unique users. All the PIs gave talks in 2018 focused on wireworms at grower meetings, field days, and academic conferences. Moving forward, we plan to have a large wireworm symposium as a capstone to our extension efforts in 2019.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ensafi P, Crowder DW, Esser AD, Zhao Z, Marshall JM, Rashed A (2018) Soil type mediates the effectiveness of biological control against Limonius californicus (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Journal of Economic Entomology 111, 2053-2058.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ensafi, P., D. Crowder, A. Esser, J.M. Marshall & A. Rashed. 2018. Efficacy of biological control against sugar beet wireworms is affected by soil type. p. 71. In: Dryland Field Day Abstracts: Highlights of Research Progress (eds. S. Crow, B. Schillinger, S. Philips, M. Corp, K. Schroeder, D. Finkelnburg, and A. Rashed). Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Report UI-2018-1.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rashed, A., Ensafi, P., Crowder, D., Esser, A., Marshall, J.M. Soil type mediates the efficacy of entomopathogens against wireworms. Biological Control W-4185 Annual Meeting. Whitefish, MT, October 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Nikoukar, A., Ensafi, P., Bosque-Perez, N.A., Lewis, E., Rashed, A. Efficacy evaluations of commercial and field collected entomopathogenic nematodes against wireworms. Biological Control W-4185 Annual Meeting. Whitefish, MT, October 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rashed, A., Ensafi, P., Esser, A., Crowder, D. Integrated pest management of wireworms, with particular emphasis on biological control. Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America. Reno, NV, June 2018.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Nikoukar, A., Ensafi, P., Lewis, E., Bosque-P�rez, N.A., Rashed A. Efficacy evaluations of commercial and field-collected entomopathogenic nematodes against wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Poster. Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America. Reno, NV, June 2018.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of our project is cereal and legume producers in the Pacific Northwestern United States.Commodity groups have identified wireworms as a priority research area, and in particular desire more effective and economical control measures for wireworms.Our project seeks to involve producers at all levels including the establishment of research priorities, the evaluation of operational aspects of new IPM practices, directly assisting with research trials, and helping to guide extension efforts. We are also targeting the cereal and legume crop industries by working with the Washington and Idaho Grain Commissions, and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Commission to share our results. More broadly, we are targeting academic audiences interested in wireworms nationally. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PI Crowder is currently supporting a graduate student and half a postdoc on this grant; co-PI Rashed is similarly supporting a graduate student on the project. These individuals are being trained in field ecology, agricultural ecology, and pest management in agriculture. These individuals have also been given opportunities to work directly with growers, and are developing as scientists in the area of outreach and extension. Finally, all individuals on the project have been given opportunities to attend academic conferences - this will continue over the course of the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As our results are preliminary, we have not yet published any new publications on the effects of nematodes or pesticides in rotational crops on wireworms. However, we presented an overview of our project at the 2016 Wheat Academy in Pullman, WA, an event that attracted nearly 80 growers/industry representatives for two days. We have also continued to update growers by presenting our results at the annual meetings of the Washington and Idaho Grain Commission. In the coming years, as we develop new publications and bulletins from the project we will disseminate them broadly to communities of interest. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1 -In 2018 we will repeat our field and laboratory trials. This will allow us to collect a two-year dataset on the effectiveness of entomopathogens on wireworm control in both the field and lab. Results from these trials will reveal which entomopathogens provide the most effective control, while also exploring how soil conditions and soil amendments affect entomopathogens. At the end of 2018 we plan to publish results from these experiments in at least two peer-reviewed papers. Objective 2 - As mentioned above, in 2018 we will evaluate whether our insecticidal treatments applied to pea crops in 2016 provided a benefit to the following year's wheat crop. We will monitor wireworms in the wheat crop throughout the 2018 season, and at harvest will measure yield and plant quality traits.We will also continue the second temporal block of this experiment, which will involve harvesting the winter peas from 2017 and planting those sites to winter wheat. Objective 3 - In 2018 we largely plan to continue our extension efforts. All the PIs will give presentations at field days and grower meetings, and we will continue to deliver content through unique avenues such as blog posts, timely topics (on the smallgrains.wsu.edu website) and podcasts. We also hope to publish informational videos on wireworm sampling and management. We plan to host a wireworm research symposium either in 2018 or 2019 as a capstone to our extension efforts.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1 - Investigate the use of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoid seed treatments in wheat and barley crops. In 2017 we made considerable progress towards this goal. First, PI Crowder and co-PI Esser established large-scale field trials on 4 farms in Washington and Idaho state examining impacts of entomopathogenic pathogens as a complement or replacement to neonicotinoids. On each farm, we had a randomized design with plots either treated with nothing (control), insecticides, pathogens, or both insecticides and pathogens. We sampled wireworm populations throughout the year, and measured yield and plant quality at the end of the year. Preliminary results suggest that our pathogen treatments did provide some suppressive effects towards wireworms that improved yields and plant quality. However, 2 of the 4 pathogens did not work well in our trials. In 2018 we plan to repeat the experiments with greater replication of the most promising treatments Co-PI Rashed also made considerable progress on the greenhouse experiments. His laboratory conducted experiments examining the effects of entomopathogenic nematodes in different soil environments, and found that entomopathogens were more effective in sandy soils. Moreover, he found that adding diatomaceous earth could make nematode treatments more effective. We will continue to explore these treatments more in 2018 as the progress progresses. Objective 2 - Examine whether the use of pesticides in rotational legume crops provides benefits for wireworm control in subsequent cereal crops. For this objective, at the end of 2016 we established replicated trials on multiple farms where farmers had planted winter legumes. We treated these legumes with Capture insecticide, a newly registered insecticide for wireworm control. Wireworms were monitored throughout the spring of 2017, and at the end of the year we planted the fields to winter wheat. Over the course of the next year we will monitor these plots to determine if treating the peas prior to wheat improved wheat yields and acreage. Moreover, we established a new set of trials in 2017 that will be planted to wheat in 2018 and then evaluated in 2019. We expect to have preliminary results from this objective in 2018. Objective 3 -Develop an extension program focused on wireworms. Our project team has made considerable progress towards this goal. PI Crowder and co-PI Esser have continued to develop the smallgrains.wsu.edu website with new information about wireworms. As we continue to gather data from this study we will populate this site with extension bulletins and data from field trials. Esser and Crowder also recorded two podcasts on wireworms to deliver information to growers in a novel and unique format. All the PIs gave talks in 2016 or 2017 focused on wireworms at grower meetings, field days, and academic conferences. Moving forward, we plan to have a large wireworm symposium as a capstone to our extension efforts in 2018 or 2019.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Esser, A.D. 2017. Weed Control Tools, On-Farm Testing and Extension Updates. WSU/ACD Annual Growers Meeting. Ritzville, WA. Jan 24.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Esser A.D. 2017. Wireworm Update and Apps for Agriculture. Klickitat Conservation District Grower Meeting Bickleton, WA. Feb 28, 2017.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Milosavljevic I, Esser AD, Crowder DW (2017) Seasonal population dynamics of wireworms in wheat crops in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Journal of Pest Science 90, 77-86.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Rondon SI, Vinchesi A, Rashed A, Crowder D (2017) Wireworms: A Pest of Monumental Proportions. Oregon State University Extension