How low can they go? Annual bluegrass weevil oviposition and development in golf course putting greens

The annual bluegrass weevil (ABW), Listronotus maculicollis (Coleoptera:Curculionidae) is a native pest of low-cut turf throughout the eastern United States, and southeastern Canada.  Larval feeding damage is most severe in short-mown (< 0.125 cm) turf.  Damage is common on golf course tees, fairways, and collars, but is rarely observed on golf course putting greens (< 0.5 cm). We sought to determine if ABW are capable of surviving, ovipositing, and developing to damaging stages in a range of green's heights-of-cut (HOC).  A reel mower mounted on a greenhouse bench was used to assess the ability of adults surviving the act of mowing, and to determine a low-end threshold for adult survival.  These studies were coupled with observations of adult behavior in the lab and field using time lapse photography to determine periods when adults were present on top of the turf canopy and therefore could be removed by mowers. Finally, male and female weevils were seeded into Poa annua research plots and caged cores to determine the likelihood of oviposition, development, and damage expression at different green's HOC (0.254, 0.318, and 0.381 cm). Our findings and their implications on ABW cultural and chemical management will be discussed.