CROP SCENE INVESTIGATION – 18 SOLVED: What’s been eating Bert’s seedlings?

by CLARE KINLIN

What Bert initially thought might be frost damage turned out to be the work of wireworms. We found the long, cylindrical, copper-brown pest in the soil when digging up the damaged plants.  Wireworms are known to destroy germinating seeds and tiny seedlings, causing non-uniform growth or gaps in the stand. Plants appear wilted and leaves turn pale, sometimes becoming purplish-blue at the tips.