Pesticides alternative strategy for Reduction of Insect (Hylobius abietis, Large pine weevil)
Subject Keywords
Pesticides, Chemicals
Sponsors
Description
Identifiers
Code
Effective date
Review year
Alternative Strategy
A new method for the physical protection of conifer seedlings against feeding damage by Hylobius abietis, is described and evaluated in field trials in Swedish forest plantations Nordlander et al (2009)5. A mixture of fine sand and a 'glue' dispersion is used to protect the seedlings:The lower 60% of the stem of the seedling is protected by the Conniflex coating, consisting of fine sand (grain size = 0.2 mm) embedded in an acrylate dispersion that remains flexible after drying.Seedlings are treated in the nursery by a large-scale application procedure involving four steps: (i) spraying the seedlings with water; (ii) application of fixative to the lower sections of the stems, (iii) application of fine sand to the fixative; and (iv) drying of the fixative.A field experiment over three seasons demonstrated a significant increase in survival.for coated seedlings compared with untreated seedlings. The survival rate increased from 29% to 97% for Scots pine and from 26% to 86% for Norway spruce. Coating the lower 30% of the stem (instead of 60%) provided inferior protection, resulting in only 64% survival in spruce.Field trials in 11 commercial plantation areas indicated that the Conniflex sand coating was as effective in protecting seedlings as treatment with the insecticide imidacloprid.The new method of coating conifer seedlings with fine sand provides an effective and environmentally sound alternative to insecticide treatment.Successful protection was also showed using wax coating (Watson 1999)6, and latex coating (Shtykova et al. 2008)7.
Alternative Type
Specific strategy
Pest Type
Insect
Alternative Trial
Yes
Coverage Country
Sweden
Method
Reduction