Reports of wireworms destroying crops have been rolling in from the fields.\u00a0 Wireworms are a hard-bodied brown worm that is the larvae form of the click beetle.\u00a0 They look very similar to meal worms.\u00a0 The adult click beetles burrow into the ground and lay their eggs near grass roots.\u00a0 This is why wireworms are commonly an issue in newly turned sod and\/or weedy fields where grass is the primary species.\u00a0 Wireworms have a wide range of plants they like to eat but are especially destructive to corn.\u00a0 Corn fields attacked by wireworms will exhibit reduced plant populations and ultimately yield.\u00a0 The wireworms feed on the seeds prior to or just after germination.\u00a0 In addition, they can also bore into underground portions of the corn plant causing them to wither and die.<\/p>\n
Wireworms are most often a problem in fields that have been in sod for many years or the second year following sod.\u00a0 They are generally an early season pest issue of corn.\u00a0 Wireworm infestations are usually noted in areas of a field that stay moist for long periods of time or when corn planted early is subject to cool and wet soil conditions.\u00a0 As soil temperatures warm, wireworms will begin to move deeper in the soil profile, eventually to where they are no longer a threat to the growing corn.\u00a0 With wireworms, there is no effective rescue treatment once symptoms of damage are observed.\u00a0 Therefore it is wise to either keep highly susceptible crops out of high risk areas, delay planting in high risk fields, or apply an approved insecticide treatment.\u00a0 There are several soil-applied or seed treatment insecticides that can give satisfactory wireworm control.\u00a0 Some natural controls, such as fungi and nematodes, may keep wireworm populations at tolerable levels.\u00a0 For a list of recommended insecticides, contact your local Extension office.\u00a0 Download a pdf version of this article.<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n Reports of wireworms destroying crops have been rolling in from the fields.\u00a0 Wireworms are a hard-bodied brown worm that is the larvae form of the click beetle.\u00a0 They look very similar to meal worms.\u00a0 The adult click beetles burrow into the ground and lay their eggs near grass roots.\u00a0 This is why wireworms are commonly … <\/p>\n![\"wireworm\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.uvm.edu\/extension\/cropsoil\/wp-content\/uploads\/wireworm.jpg?resize=274%2C203\")
<\/a>![\"wirewormdamage\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.uvm.edu\/extension\/cropsoil\/wp-content\/uploads\/wirewormdamage.jpg?resize=269%2C228\")
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