• Weed & Turfgrass Science
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.62-69
• /
• 2013

The black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), damages various cultivated crops and it can also be a serious pest of turfgrass, especially on golf courses. Essential oils have potential as alternative control agents for insect pests. Sixteen essential oils (anise, camphor, cinnamon, citronella, clove, fennel, geranium, lavender, lemongrass, linseed, neem, peppermint, pine, thyme, turpentine and tea saponin) and paraffin oil were assessed in the laboratory, the green house and field trials for their efficacy against black cutworms in turf. Treatment of potted cores of perennial ryegrass turf with anise, cinnamon, neem, paraffin or turpentine reduced black cutworm damage in a greenhouse trial, and in a similar trial, applying neem oil at 4000, 2000 and 1000 ppm resulted in 100, 100 and 64% mortality, respectively, of black cutworms. Weight of survivors at the 1000 ppm rate was 5- fold less than weight of comparably-aged controls. Neem oil (2000 ppm) reduced growth of black cutworms feeding on treated clippings. A high rate of neem oil followed by irrigation (0.1 L of 20000 ppm neem oil with 0.9 L watering/$m^2$) was more effective than a lower concentration (1 L of 2000 ppm neem oil/$m^2$) against $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ instars in potted turf cores and field plots, respectively. However, not even the aforementioned higher rate effectively controlled $4^{th}$ instars in the field.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.38-50
• /
• 2019

We investigated the developmental characteristics and life cycle of the lawn cutworm, Spodoptera depravata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which is one of the most important pests causing economic damage in grass production. For larval culture, we provided the zoysiagrass at $25^{\circ}C$ and $60{\pm}5%$ humidity. The durations of the developmental stages were as follows: $4.11{\pm}0.19$ days for eggs, $25.17{\pm}3.02$ for larvae, $8.80{\pm}0.28$ for pupae, and $7.57{\pm}0.95$ for adults. We grew the larvae to the 7th instar stage, unlike previous studies, in which it was assumed that the 6th instar was the final age. There was a significant positive correlation between the body length and head capsule width of each instar larvae. In terms of morphology, the eggs changed from light green immediately following oviposition to black as they developed, and the grass-fed larvae changed from light yellow immediately after hatching to green as development continued. We observed a pattern of black spots at regular intervals on the dorsal sides of the abdomens of the final instar larvae. Furthermore, we detected two notable designs on the dorsal side of the front of the head. The pupal colors changed from light brown and green immediately after pupation, to dark brown as the pupal cuticle hardened. The wingspans of the adults were similar in both sexes. However, the forewings of the males had obvious outer lines and eyespots with dark gray-brown backgrounds, whereas the corresponding features on the female forewings were less obvious. The oviposition preperiod was 2.11 days, the oviposition period was 4.2 days, the average fecundity per female was approximately 341 eggs, and the hatching rate was approximately 76.1%.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.60 no.2
• /
• pp.201-202
• /
• 2021

We confirmed the convenient bioassay method for the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon in semi-field conditions. And we surveyed the susceptibility to commercial pesticides of A. ipsilon, which feeds Chinese cabbage through this bioassay process. As a result of the test, six soil mixing insecticides and eight soil drenching insecticides showed more than 90% insecticidal activity.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.58-64
• /
• 2015

The black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) is a major insect pest of economic crops including turfgrasses on golf courses. The entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae GSN1 strain (ScG), a Korean isolate, is an effective biological control agent for soil dwelling and greenhouse insect pests in Korea. In addition, ScG is commercially produced in Korea. We conducted laboratory, greenhouse, and field trials to evaluate efficacy of ScG against black cutworms in turfgrasses. A rate of 63 infective juveniles (Ijs) per larva killed >90% of $3^{rd}$ instars feeding in cups of artificial diet within 3 days. In greenhouse trials against cutworms feeding in pots of turfgrass, efficacy of ScG was higher against $4^{th}$ instars than against $2^{nd}$ instars (90.0 vs 81.2% mortality, respectively, at $2,000Ijs\;pot^{-1}$) in perennial ryegrass, and higher against $3^{rd}$ instars in creeping bentgrass, Agrostis palustris than in zoysiagrass, Zoysia japonica (96.7 vs 52.5% mortality at $100,000Ijs\;m^{-2}$) in pot. The corrected mortality of $4^{th}$ instar was 79.9% at the rate of $100,000Ijs\;m^{-2}$ in the creeping bentgrass in the field. So ScG could be used as biological control agent against black cutworm in turfgrass of golf courses.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.37-47
• /
• 2023

The black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), is an important crop pest worldwide that feeds more than 80 plant species including cabbage, potato, maize, wheat and bean, and this moth is a typical pest attacking underground parts of crops. It has been known in farm booklets that the larvae of A. ipsilon overwinter in the soil in Korea, but no definitive data exist yet. This study was conducted to evaluate that the specific appearance time of A. ipsilon observed actually in the field could be explained when we assumed that this pest overwinters in a form of larvae or pupae. Degree day-based phenology models were applied for tracking forward or backward to find the predicted developmental stage which developed at a specific stage found in the field. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that an initial population could be established in a group that does not overwinter as larvae or pupae in Korea. In other words, the appearance of adults in early March to April could not be explained by the presence of domestic overwintering populations. Populations that overwinter as larvae or pupae in Korea were able to emerge as adults in June to July at the earliest. Therefore, the group of adults appearing in early spring is highly likely to be a population that migrated from outside Korea. Taken together, it was estimated that the colony of A. ipsilon in Korea would be formed by a mixture of a migrant population through long-distance migration and a overwintering population.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.93-104
• /
• 2010

This study was conducted screening of the population densities of fungal pathogens and insect and observed the disease symptoms on the organic sweet corn seed producing field from 2008 to 2009. The dissemination spores, Alternaria sp., Cladosporium sp., Helminthosporium sp., Pyricularia sp., Collectotrichum sp., and Bipolaris sp., were detected and the three fungal spores from the front were observed for whole growth stage. Seed and seedling diseases were shown as the rotted seed and damping-off seedling caused by Penicillium sp. and Rhizoctonia sp.. The larva of Black cutworm cut down the root crown of seedlings. The damaged plants were ranged from 14% to 16%. On the Oriental corn borer, the population densities and the percentage of damaged plants were showed a low difference between two sweet corn varieties. The population densities of Oriental corn borer were scored as from 3.5 to 20.5 in 2008 and from 0.5 to 6 in 2009. Also the percentage of damaged plants were significantly increased until harvesting stage and was recorded from 7.5% to 21% in 2008 and from 1% to 46% in 2009. On the Corn leaf blight, the percentage of diseased plant were scored from 7% to 34% in 2008. The first occurrence of date was after June 18, and the percentage of diseased plant was continuously increased after August 21 and the values of diseased plants was ranged from 56% to 69% in 2009. On common smut, the percentage of diseased plant was recorded from 5% to 15% in 2008, and the first occurrence date were delayed as 17 days (July 17) and were showed less than 8% of diseased plants in 2009. Corn Southern Leaf spot was scored as average 11% at early stage and showed high score as 62% at September 19 in 2008. In 2009, the first occurrence date were advanced about 20 days (after June 8), and continuously increased up to 86% in 2009.