Chafer grubs and leatherjackets on golf courses – integrated management in Scandinavia

Abstract

Chafer grubs and leatherjackets can cause severe damages to Scandinavian Golf Courses – mainly in the southern areas. Damages from chafer grubs are occasional, damages from leatherjackets tend to be increasing. Restrictions on insecticides have necessitated the use of alternative control methods. Many experiments with microbiological agents like entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) and strains of Bacillus thuringiensis have been conducted, but monitoring and warning, and methods for application, spraying equipment and technique, formulation of and effective species of microbiological agents must be improved. Good communication with the golfers is essential, as more damages from insect pests will occur now and in the future, and alternative methods are often more expensive and less effective than the synthetic insecticides. Course managers and greenkeepers have to become experts in the use of microbiological control.