Skip to main content
Entomology 2025 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
 
Oral Presentation
Oral Presentation
Poster Display
Poster Display
Student Competition
Student Competition
Ticketed Event
Ticketed Event

Poster Display

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Poster: P-IE, Behavior and Chemical Ecology

Weevil watch: Seasonal phenology of annual bluegrass weevil (Listronotus maculicollis) as a key pest of golf courses in Virginia

Tuesday, November 11, 2025
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific
Location: Exhibit Hall A-A1, OCC
Poster Display

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Jason Bielski

    Postdoctoral Associate
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
    Blacksburg, Virginia

    • Co-Author(s)

  • KC

    Katlyn Catron (she/her/hers)

    Virginia Tech
    Richmond, Virginia

  • KA

    Kaylee Armstrong

    Virginia Tech
    Virginia Beach, Virginia

  • JB

    Julie Brindley

    Research Specialist Senior
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
    Virginia Beach, Virginia

  • TK

    Thomas Kuhar

    Professor
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
    Blacksburg, Virginia

  • Alejandro Del-Pozo

    Assistant Professor of Entomology
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
    Virginia Beach, Virginia

Annual bluegrass weevil, Listronotus maculicollis Kirby (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), continues to pose a serious threat to turfgrass on golf courses throughout Virginia. To refine our understanding of its seasonal dynamics, we conducted weekly soap-flush sampling at untreated fairway during 2021–2024. Sampling windows were extended from 1 February through 31 October to capture the full breadth of adult activity. Across all locations and years, we documented three distinct activity peaks, with evidence of overlapping cohorts. The earliest adult captures occurred as early as 6 February (southwest Virginia), while adults persisted until 23 October (central Virginia). Although peak timing varied somewhat among sites, we found no clear gradient in raw emergence dates. These findings underscore the limitations of calendar-based spray schedules and point toward degree-day modeling and site-specific weather data as more precise tools for targeting vulnerable life stages of this pest. Incorporating local weather station records and routine scouting may further enhance predictive capacity. Ultimately, adopting a more flexible, data-driven monitoring framework should improve the timing of insecticidal applications and support more sustainable L. maculicollis management strategies across Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region.