The use of an alternative food source (red clover) as a means of reducing slug pest damage to winter wheat: towards field implementation.

Slugs are major pests of many crops in the UK, including winter wheat, yet current methods of control are often unreliable. The aim of this study was to investigate three issues key to the successful field implementation of a control strategy that uses red clover as an alternative food source to reduce the amount of damage caused to winter wheat by the field slug, Deroceras reticulatum (Müller). A series of three experiments was designed to assess this aim.

A laboratory-based comparison of a molluscicide and an alternative food source (red clover) as means of reducing slug damage to winter wheat.

Slugs are major pests of many crops in the UK, including winter wheat, yet current methods of control are often unreliable. This study investigates the potential use of red clover, as an alternative food source, to reduce the amount of damage caused to winter wheat by the field slug, Deroceras reticulatum (Müller). Two laboratory-based studies, each conducted over a 7-day period, investigated the effects of red clover seedlings and commercial metaldehyde pellets on damage to winter wheat seeds and seedlings.

A laboratory evaluation of the palatability of legumes to the field slug, Deroceras reticulatum Müller.

Slugs are major pests of many crops, including winter wheat, in temperate climates, yet current methods of control are often unreliable. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential for common legume species to act as an alternative source of food, or trap crop, for the most damaging agricultural pest species, the grey field slug, Deroceras reticulatum Müller, thereby reducing damage to the wheat crop. A series of three controlled-environment experiments were designed to assess this aim.