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Click beetle larvae, also known as wireworms, are soil insect pests that can be extremely damaging to crops. As the climate warms, wireworm pests are becoming more common and increase the risk to farmers of producing unmarketable vegetables and in some cases complete crop loss. Pesticides are often the go-to solution to reduce losses to these pests. However, the use of pesticides comes with huge environmental impacts, a high cost, and a significant carbon footprint.  

Many wireworms are not pests and are in fact beneficial to soil processes, but the use of pesticides indiscriminately eliminates all the species present and is damaging to the ecosystem. Therefore, being able to quickly identify the species present in a field prior to planting crops would help farmers understand the level of risk from wireworm pests and allow them to make informed decisions on the appropriate level of pesticide use. However, species identification using traditional visual methods is challenging and time-consuming, leading many farmers to use pesticides as a precaution. 

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) aim to develop rapid and accurate DNA detection tools that can be used by crop consultants and plant diagnostic laboratories to determine if pest wireworms are present in farmers’ fields prior to planting. This information can help determine if insecticide treatment is warranted. This project will generate molecular tools to identify five of the most important pest species of wireworms present in British Columbia. With these tools, samples can be rapidly processed from the field and provide growers with a quick assessment of infestation levels in real-time, making it possible for them to treat their fields only when pest wireworms are present and pose a risk. This is anticipated to provide significant economic and environmental benefits by reducing the costs of treatment and the environmental footprint from pesticide use.