Bill Cissel, Extension Agent – Integrated Pest Management; bcissel@udel.edu
Congratulations to Chris Williams for correctly identifying the insect in the photo as a ground beetle and for being selected to be entered into the end of season raffle for $100 not once but five times. Everyone else who guessed correctly will also have their name entered into the raffle. Click on the Guess the Pest logo to participate in this week’s Guess the Pest challenge!
Guess the Pest Week #12 Answer: Ground Beetle
There are many different species of Carabidae beetles, commonly referred to as ground beetles, which can be found in crop fields that are helping to keep pest populations in check. However, they aren’t all as attractive as this particular species of ground beetle. Ground beetles are considered “generalist predators” meaning they prey on many different kinds of pests. One pest that they are known to prey on is slugs. With very few natural enemies, gaining a better understanding of the predator-prey relationship between ground beetles and slugs can provide valuable insight into how we can take advantage of these natural enemies to help with slug control.
Curious about some of the current Delaware Soybean Board funded research being conducted at the University of Delaware?
Click on the link to watch a short (90 second) Youtube video to learn more about some of our research with ground beetles and slugs: https://youtu.be/fSMX74XhSbI
Fun Entomology Fact: In Europe, there is a species of ground beetle that is commonly referred to as the “Slug Killer”.