The biology of the strawberry rootworm in California

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Introduction

The strawberry rootworm, Paria canella quadrinotata (Say), is a serious pest of strawberries and raspberries in California. Its biology was studied intensively in the Santa Clara Valley from 1939 through 1942, when World War II, and the consequent reduction in berry acreage, caused work on the problem to stop. The results of the study of the strawberry rootworm are now reported in this paper.

Since the-war there has been a marked increase in berry acreage, with an accompanying increase in actual and potential damage by the strawberry rootworm. Further studies were therefore conducted on control during the past three years, and these will be reported in another paper.

Geographical Distribution

The strawberry rootworm is probably indigenous to North America, since it has been reported only from the United States and Canada. Published reports indicate its presence in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. From its known distribution, the pest may be assumed to occur throughout the entire United States. Its distribution in the United States is shown in figure 1.

In California, the strawberry rootworm occurs in Alameda, Contra Costa, Merced, Monterey, Placer, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Yuba counties.