To better help golf course superintendents manage annual bluegrass weevil (ABW), Syngenta has updated its ABW monitoring system, WeevilTrak^SM with new courses, researchers and control recommendations.

“ABW activity is spreading to new locations, so we want to ensure WeevilTrak is evolving to meet the needs of superintendents through more monitoring sites and improved control products,” said Stephanie Schwenke, turf market manager for Syngenta. “Based on requests we’ve received for additional input in Southern Virginia, we’ve added several new courses to the program. We’ve also improved the Optimum Control Strategy with Provaunt^® WDG insecticide recommendations.”

This year, Thomas Kuhar, Ph.D., professor at Virginia Tech, and Olga Kostromytska, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, have joined the WeevilTrak team of researchers. They will monitor ABW activity in their respective locations and provide monthly updates for the WeevilTrak blog.

Syngenta has added new courses in Virginia that will serve as ABW research stations, including:

• The Federal Club in Glen Allen, Virginia
• Ballyhack Golf Club in Roanoke, Virginia
• Blacksburg Country Club in Blacksburg, Virginia

Other tools available for 2019:

• WeevilTrak text alerts that provide timely updates on local ABW progression
• WeevilTrak blog, regularly updated by 11 industry-leading ABW researchers and featuring 149 blog posts from the past four seasons
• Secondary course monitoring for additional localized stage-progression information
• Growing degree day model designed specifically for ABW
• Optimum Control Strategy outlining a proven ABW treatment protocol
  
  • ​​​​​​​Now includes recommendations for Provaunt WDG insecticide

WeevilTrak was voted the most popular scouting technique in an ABW study published by Ben McGraw and Albrecht Koppenhöfer¹ in 2017, preceding plant phenology. Additional results from a 2018 survey of WeevilTrak users² showed:

• 98 percent strongly agree/agree they value receiving WeevilTrak email alerts
• 95 percent strongly agree/agree they time their first-generation ABW applications to WeevilTrak recommendations

Since its launch 10 years ago, the WeevilTrak program has been continuously updated to provide new resources and help superintendents stay on top of the latest trends.

“ABW has historically been the most troublesome insect for golf course superintendents in the Northeast, and, in recent years, it has continued to move to other regions,” said Steve McDonald, owner, Turfgrass Disease Solutions, and managing consultant for the WeevilTrak research team. “To help superintendents combat this pest, WeevilTrak continues to provide the tools they need to stay informed on ABW activity and the control options needed to prevent damage throughout the season.”

Valuable information through WeevilTrak is only available for subscribers. Register now and sign up for text alerts by visiting WeevilTrak.com. Join WeevilTrak and ABW tracking conversations on Twitter using #WeevilTrak.

¹McGraw, B. A., & Koppenhofer, A. M. (2017). A Survey of Regional Trends in Annual Bluegrass Weevil Management on Golf Courses in Eastern North America. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 1–11.

²Survey distributed by Syngenta to WeevilTrak subscribers in November 2018 with 190 total responses

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