Pulse Crops: Pest Management of Wireworms and Cutworms in the Northern Great Plains of United States and Canada

Wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae) and cutworms (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) are significant soil insect pests of pulse crops including chickpea (garbanzo bean) (Cicer arietinum L.), field pea (Pisum sativum L.), and lentils (Lens culinaris Medikus). Integrated pest management strategies established for pest monitoring and nominal thresholds can be used for making management decisions. However, producers continue to rely on chemical control as their main strategy to reduce economic populations. Cultural strategies, such as crop rotation and tillage, and biological control agents, such as predators, parasitoids, nematodes, and entomopathogens, help mitigate wireworm and cutworm populations, but are usually not adequate for management of economic populations. Future research needs for wireworms and cutworms in pulse crops should concentrate more on developing improved economic thresholds, and integrating multiple management strategies, especially biological control and host plant resistance, to reduce the reliance on chemicals.