Environmental Entomology (1983) 12, 528-530

S.D. Kindler, S.M. Spomer and E.J. Kinbacher (1983)
Further host range studies on the bluegrass billbug, Sphenophorus parvulus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Environmental Entomology 12 (2), 528-530
Abstract: During 1973 to 1975, 29 entries of 11 grass species and their cultivars which could be utilized as turf were examined for the presence of larvae of the bluegrass billbug, Sphenophorus parvulus Gyllenhal. Of all species examined, only Kentucky bluegrass, Poa pratensis L., showed significant infestations of S. parvulus larvae, with mean densities ranging from 3.05 to 14.45 larvae per 9.3 dm² in 1974 and 1975. In 1975, the 13 Kentucky bluegrass cultivars used in the previous test were also utilized to determine possible associations between number of billbug larvae and number of live stems and thatch thicknesses per 9.3 dm². Positive correlations existed between billbug larvae per 9.3 dm² and number of live stems per 9.3 dm² (r = 0.590; P < 0.01) and between billbug larvae per 9.3 dm² and thatch thickness (r = 0.826; P < 0.01).
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Sphenophorus parvulus	Poa (crop)	U.S.A. (mid N)