Alfalfa Snout Beetle

Alfalfa Snout Beetle Research

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ASB Diet & Life Cycle

ASB Diet

The ASB feeds on red and white clover, broad-leafed dock, wild carrot, wild strawberries, blackberries, dogwood, alfalfa, other legumes and weeds.

ASB Life Cycle (3 Years)

ASB Life Cycle

Year 1

May: adult beetles emerge and feed on alfalfa foliage for three weeks to build fat reserves for egg laying

May-June: adults enter a non-feeding dispersal phase, laying eggs at the base of host plants. One adult can lay up to 500 eggs.

June-November: larvae feed on alfalfa plant roots, the most heavily damaged plants begin to die in August. Remaining plant death occurs in September-October. In November larvae burrow deep into the soil for a full year, they become adults the following summer.

Year 2

April-May: stand loss is seen, field are patchy or barren. Surviving plants may fill in quickly and areas may not be seen as damaged.

June-Aug: larvae remain in hibernation but finish developing and turn into adults

ASB previous year feeding damage often looks like winter kill following spring

 

Year 3

April-May: ASB that began in Year 1 now emerge in alfalfa fields as adults

ASB spring emergence from an alfalfa field

 

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