Page 22 - Griffin Gazette Issue 3 - 2018
P. 22
ROVE BEETLES:
Dinner is served!
Fungus gnat larvae skelotnizing dahlia leaf tissue in contact with the soil
By Rick Yates, benefit of greenhouse growers. Their aggressive feeders. The adult stage is
GGSPro Technical menu includes the pupal stage of thrips, winged to aid in disbursement. They
Services Manager fungus gnat and shorefly larvae and use a keen sense of smell to track down
other soil-dwelling insects. They also their food sources. They are tolerant of a
The rove beetle,
known as Atheta feed on fungus gnat eggs, with adults wide range of temperatures. They have
coriaria and more shown to eat over 100 per day! They are been shown to survive down to 39° F,
recently Dalotia nocturnal, so they do most of their work but consider the low 50s to be the low
coriaria, says, “Call under the cover of darkness. The larval end of the effective range. This makes
me whatever you stages are white to yellow or orange, them effective at lower temperatures
want, just don’t call but the adult stages are shiny and dark than the predator mite, Stratiolaelaps
me late for dinner!” These tiny predator brown. The adults are quite small, less (Hypoaspis) miles, that is often used in
beetles are voracious feeders that use than 1/8-inch in length. All life stages concert with rove beetles to control the
their appetite for soil-borne pests to the of the rove beetles are very mobile, same pests.
22 | GRIFFIN GAZETTE 2018
