Damage Caused by Cutworms to Reishi Mushrooms and Its Control Methods
Cutworms belong to the order Lepidoptera, family Noctuidae. They are not only an important pest of agricultural and forestry crops, but also a common pest in the cultivation of edible fungi such as reishi mushroom, silver ear fungus, wood ear fungus, and oyster mushroom. They are widely distributed, but the degree of damage varies. They occur more frequently in outdoor open-field sunken-bed cultivation and plastic greenhouses.
Damage characteristics: The larvae feed on the mycelium of reishi mushrooms, inhibiting mycelial growth and affecting fruiting body formation, which reduces reishi mushroom yield and lowers quality.
Morphological characteristics
Adult body length 16-23 mm, wingspan 42-54 mm, dark brown, with a black kidney-shaped mark or ring-shaped mark in the middle of the forewing, two longitudinal bands running from the front margin to the rear margin, and grayish-white hindwings.
Larvae are brown; mature larvae are about 40 mm long, with a distinct dorsal line, a rough body surface covered with small black protuberances. Each abdominal segment has 4 relatively distinct small black spots on the dorsal side, arranged in a trapezoid. The posterior end has a relatively hard anal plate. The anal plate bears two dark brown longitudinal bands.
Occurrence pattern: Cutworms are omnivorous pests that live in the soil. They can both gnaw on the mycelium in the substrate and damage the fruiting bodies, often leaving obvious sunken notches at the damaged sites. They occur more severely in mushroom houses with extensive management.
Control methods
(1) Strengthen cultivation management by installing screen windows and screen doors in the cultivation room to prevent adults from flying into the cultivation room to lay eggs. Ventilate in a timely manner to increase mycelial oxygen uptake, maintain good environmental sanitation, and dispose of surrounding waste in a centralized manner.
(2) Before cultivation, it is best to disinfect the cultivation room with potassium permanganate.
(3) When larvae are found causing damage, capture and kill them promptly.
(4) Green vegetable leaves can be mixed with 90% trichlorfon and then scattered in the cultivation room.
Commonly used chemicals: potassium permanganate, trichlorfon.