Assessment of simulated damage by Anthonomus signatus (Say) in southeastern plasticulture strawberry production

Female strawberry bud weevils (Anthonomus signatus) have been documented ovipositing in developing flower buds in strawberries (Fragaria spp.), caneberries (Rubus spp.), and red bud (Cercis canadensis). Following the laying of a single egg, adult weevils will girdle or “clip” buds, preventing fruit development.  This damage is of concern to commercial strawberry growers, but meaningful information on strawberry bud weevil impact and prevalence in annual grown, plasticulure strawberry production is lacking.  Typically, growers assume one clipped bud is the loss of one average sized fruit causing the economic threshold to be set extremely low. However, there is evidence of compensation in some cultivars of strawberries. We assessed five commonly grown varieties by simulating damage at Central Crops Research Station, North Carolina in order to determine their ability to compensate for bud loss.