Striped cucumber beetles, Acalymma vittatum (F.), feed on leaves and stems of muskmelon, Cucumis melo L., and vector the bacterium, Erwinia tracheiphila (E.F. Smith) Holland, which causes bacterial wilt in cucurbits. The objective of this study was to understand the effect of plastic mulches and chemical treatments on the population densities of striped cucumber beetle, incidence of bacterial wilt, and yield in early-planted muskmelons. Field studies were conducted at Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center in Vincennes, IN from 2001 through 2003. The plastic mulch treatments were black, clear, and infrared transmitting, and the chemical treatments were methyl bromide, methyl bromide with Furadan, Telone, Telone with Furadan, Furadan, Actigard, and untreated. The numbers of striped cucumber beetle per plant for each treatment were estimated in situ twice weekly and the number of wilting plants and yield were recorded for each treatment. The results in 2001 and 2002 showed that the percentages of bacterial wilt on plants were significantly lower in the black plastic mulch and Furadan treatments, although there were no significant interactions. The yield in Furadan treatment was significantly higher than other chemical treatments. These results indicated that a Furadan and black mulch treatment, which is the standard grower practice, had the lowest percentage of bacterial wilt and highest yield of the muskmelons.
Species 1: Coleoptera Chrysomelidae Acalymma vittatum (striped cucumber beetle)
Keywords: mulch, bacterial wilt
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