Grazing
Gazette
penn;
K| College of Apiculture] Sciences
to cooperation with USDA/ARS
SURVEY OF INVERTEBRATES
OF GRAZED DAIRY PASTURES
IN PENNSYLVANIA AND
THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH
FARM MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES
Robert Byers, PSWMRL,
UJS. Pasture Lib.
University Park
and
Gary Barker,
Ruakura Agricultural
Research Station, -
Hamilton, New Zealand
Last year, we sampled the in
vertebrate populations over a
range of grazing systems along a
gradient of soil types, gearing in
tensity and past histories for 21
farms in several different Pennsyl
vania counties representative of
northeastern conditions. The in
vertebrates we collected were
earthworms, spiders, spider mites,
centipedes, millipedes, slugs,
snails, and many different kinds of
insects.
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We collected the animals in
three different ways: 1) soil cores
4 inches in diameter and about 2 to
4 inches deep (depending oh how
dry the soil and .the presence of
stones); 2) pitfall traps made from
cottage cheese containers sitting
inside 4-inch diameter sewer pipe
connectors buried to the soil level;
and 3) vacuum suction of four
Sites about 2 square feet each with
a reserved flow leaf blower.
We did all the sampling in late
May and early June at the time of
maximum grass and legume
growth.
We are overwhelmed by the
huge number of ipecies of insects
that we collected in the pitfall
traps. The soil samples revealed
low numbers of important pests
such as white grubs and wire
worms in every farm sampled.
Larvae of the clover root cutculio.
a pest of clover and alfalfa, was
found on all 21 farms but in low
numbers.
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Clover root curculio
related with situ on each farm
with dome stands of white clover.
We have not started sorting the va
cuum samples because we discov
ered the insects passed through the
impeller of the leaf blower and on
ly the mites and small insects were
collected intact We have since de
vised an insert in the collecting
tube to prevent injury to the speci
mens.
The pitfall traps collected many
species of spiders and ants and we
are still sorting them after more
than one year. There were also
great numbers of beetles, 63 spe
cies of ground beetles, many of
which are insect predators, have
been identified by Dr. Bob David
son of the Carnegie Museum of
Pittsburgh. Rove beetles, another
group of ground dwelling beetles,
were also represented by over 80
species and are being identified by
Dr. Rich Hobeke, Cornell Univer
sity.
Many of the numerous flies,
dung beetles, and other insects
feeding on dung patties were col
lected in our traps. There were lots
of weevils in these traps, especial
ly billbugs which feed on grasses,
stem weevils, and occasionally
specimens of the clover root cur
culio, alfalfa weevil, and clover
leaf weevils.
What are our plans for all the
data we have collected and what
does it all mean to you? We plan
multivariate statistical analyses of
the insects and slugs at communi
ty and species level based on sys
tematic group (beetles, ants,
wasps), feeding behavior (root
feeders, stem feeders, leaf feeders,
parasites, predators), and abund
ance (numbers per trap, per soil
core), and we will associate these
data with site vegetation, soil type
and farm management practices.
Our goal is to describe inverte
brate communities by their habitat
relationships in grazed pastures to
determine the invertebrate species
most likely to impact pasture sys
tems and sustainability.
Our preliminary results show
few species abundant enough to
be pests of roots. At no time did
we see damage to foliage except at
the Forrest Strieker Farm in Berks
County when we observed alfalfa
weevil damage on grazed alfalfa
on the south facing slope. Grasses
and clovers showed little insect
damage symptoms on any farm.
In the summer and fall of last
year, and spring, summer and fall
this year and next, we plan to con-
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Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, July 22, im«K
tinue otir survey on five fonts
(Forrest Strieker Farm; Will
Chamberlain Farm, Tioga County;
Leonard Queitzsch Farm, Juniata
County; Jerry Beary Farm, Ve
nango County; and Herb Guyer
Farm, Westmoreland County).
These farms represent different
physiogeographic regions typical
of northeastern U.S. conditions,
and different ways of manage
ment
Gary Barker returned this April
to help arrange data for analysis
and plan which insect groups to
study. We are in contact by E-mail
frequently and hope to be able to
write some papers in the coming
year on the effect of grazing man
agement on insect diversity and
abundance.
■ July 27, Pasture Walk, Franklin
County (717) 352-8676
• August 10, Pasture Walk,
Franklin County (717) 352-8676.
Address questions and sugges
tions to Grazing Research and
Education Center, 116 Agricultur
al Sciences and Industries Bldg.,
University Park, PA 16802, (814)
865-6541.
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