Agronomists and entomologists in Idaho and Washington who have been studying wireworm abatement have seen from 40% all the way up to 100% crop loss due to wireworm, and those losses hit hard. Even when crop losses are on the lower end of the spectrum, the surviving seedlings can end up being stunted, reducing yield even further. One problem is that wireworm larvae are actively destroying crops in all stages of growth as they progress from larvae to pupae and finally to click beetles. The other problem is their exponential population expansion. Two adult click beetles multiply to more than 200 adults in the first year and 1,000 wireworm by year three.
Cereals have very few chemical options to control and reduce wireworm populations. Currently, the leading treatment is to use neonicotinoid-treated seeds. However, neonicotinoid seeds only intoxicate the wireworm. Getting the wireworm “drunk” protects the initial stand establishment and seedling development, but still allows the larvae to develop and continue through the life cycle, which means population growth and crop damage continue. Without treatments that directly impact wireworm mortality, wireworm abatement is impossible.
Researchers and chemists at BASF found that using Broflanilide — a new class of chemistry — and the active ingredient in Teraxxa, produced a new line of defense against wireworm. Broflanilide is an Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) Mode of Action Group 30, innovation that does what we need it to — protect against wireworm by attacking wireworm mortality. Trials have shown Teraxxa to be highly effective with rapid wireworm mortality on contact across all species and life stages. In fact, field studies have shown 80-90% reduction in end-of-season resident wireworms from the beginning of the season.
Wireworm’s long life cycle, two to seven years or more, and the rapid population growth makes increasing mortality imperative for crop survival and meeting yield expectations. Rather than simply intoxicating the wireworm, Broflanilide binds to a specific point in the central nervous system of the wireworm. This attack on the central nervous system causes hyperactivity of nerves and muscles, and ultimately causes death. This treatment eliminates the wireworm completely and ensures the wireworm does not come back or reproduce.
Cereal growers have not been able to effectively treat wireworm since 2007 when the chemical Lindane was banned for agricultural use, and over the past 14 years those wireworm populations have been growing at a rapid — and catastrophic — rate. Ideal conditions for above average wheat yield are also ideal conditions for wireworm infestations to become a real problem. When wireworm are not eliminated from the soil, crop loss becomes recurring and opens quality farmland to invasive weeds.
Teraxxa is convenient, with low use rates and multiple formulations, and is an effective rotation partner for insecticide resistance management and customized treatments with fungicides or other insecticides. Researchers recommend using a combination of Teraxxa and neonicitinoids to help reduce the risk of wireworms developing a resistance to either chemistry.
Teraxxa has been analyzed largely on spring wheat to this point, but studies on its efficacy in winter wheat are ongoing, as well as the effect on crop rotations after wireworms are eliminated.
