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SMART-VW: Sustainable Monitoring and Advanced Recognition Technology for Vine Weevil Management
Secondary Supervisor(s): Dr Ben Clunie, Dr Tom Pope
University of Registration: Harper Adams University
BBSRC Research Themes: Sustainable Agriculture and Food (Plant and Crop Science)
Project Outline
Vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus F. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), has been an economically important pest affecting global soft-fruit crops for over five decades (Pope and Roberts, 2022). Initially considered a sporadic glasshouse pest in Europe and North America, its economic importance has escalated with the expansion of the soft-fruit sector and the adoption of modern growing practices, such as the use of potting media and black polythene mulches. These practices not only benefit vine weevil development and reproduction by reducing insecticide efficacy, but also provide a protected environment against unfavourable climatic conditions. This species inflicts damage in multiple ways. Larvae feeding on roots, corms, rhizomes and subterranean stems impairs water and nutrient transport to aboveground parts, leading to stunted growth and reduced yields. Adult weevils primarily feed on leaves, creating distinctive notches along the leaf edges (Moorhouse et al., 1992).
Approaches to vine weevil control have largely evolved from a reliance on persistent broad-spectrum insecticides to include the use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), targeting the soil and substrate-dwelling larvae. This shift towards alternative larval controls marks a significant step towards more sustainable, integrated vine weevil management strategies (Pope and Roberts, 2022). However, the development of comprehensive IPM programmes has been hindered by gaps in our understanding of the vine weevil's biology and ecology, which in turn restrict effective pest monitoring capabilities. A recent review by Pope and Roberts (2022) underscored the challenges in vine weevil management, particularly the lack of effective tools for monitoring the pest's presence and population density. This is complicated by the nocturnal habits of the adults and the subterranean nature of the larvae (Moorhouse et al., 1992). The available monitoring tools can be crop-damaging, time-consuming and, critically, lack the reliability and sensitivity required to be truly considered effective. Consequently, growers often remain unaware of economically damaging vine weevil populations until significant crop losses have already occurred (van Tol et al., 2012). The increasing reliance on biological controls, especially EPNs, underscores the need for effective monitoring. Given the high cost of EPN treatments, it's imperative for growers to avoid unnecessary applications. Additionally, precise timing of applications is crucial for the success of these biological control measures, further highlighting the importance of developing more effective and reliable monitoring tools.
This project will have three key objectives:
O1 Survey commercial nurseries to identify non-target species and train a computer vision model for automatic pest detection.
O2 Exploit behaviour modifying chemicals as lures to improve monitoring tool efficacy.
O3 Field test monitoring tools.
Methods
Hand searching and pitfall trapping at commercial farms will be completed to collect vine weevils as non-target organisms within these environments. These specimens will be identified and used to produce a large, annotated dataset of images with which to produce a computer vision model for automatic pest detection (O1). Widely available machine learning models (such as YOLO) will be used to train a pest identification model and then validate it. Work to identify behaviour modifying chemicals (semiochemicals) as lures (O2) will be achieved through a series of laboratory olfactometer and semi-field experiments supported by air entrainments and chemical analysis of conspecifics using gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry. Identified chemicals will be tested for the behavioural modifying properties under semi-field conditions within a glasshouse environment. Where required, formulations of these chemicals will be further refined to enhance the strength of the behavioural response. Field testing monitoring tools (O3) will be carried out in collaboration with an extensive grower network across the United Kingdom.
References
Pope, T. W., and Roberts, J. M. (2022). Vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), management: current state and future perspectives. Annual Review of Entomology, 67, 221-238.
Moorhouse, E.R., Charnley, A.K. and Gillespie A.T. (1992). A review of the biology and control of the vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Annals of Applied Biology. 121:431–54.
van Tol, R. W., Bruck, D. J., Griepink, F. C., and De Kogel, W. J. (2012). Field attraction of the vine weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus to kairomones. Journal of Economic Entomology, 105(1), 169-175.
