Agriotes ferrugineipennis

Agricultural land including potato fields with grass cover and grassy berms. Larvae inhabit soil. Adults collected with sweep nets in grass.

Western North America: British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah.

Adults emerge in spring (April–May).

Larvae (wireworms) feed on roots of agricultural crops. Adults have been observed feeding on apple pieces in laboratory conditions.

Larvae are wireworms, soil-dwelling juveniles. Adults emerge in spring. Pheromone-mediated mate finding occurs via female-produced 7-methyloctyl 7-methyloctanoate.

Males exhibit strong attraction to the female-produced sex pheromone 7-methyloctyl 7-methyloctanoate, with trap captures nearly 1,200 times higher than unbaited controls. Antennal detection of pheromone components demonstrated via gas chromatography-electroantennography (GC-EAD).

Potential agricultural pest; larvae (wireworms) feed on crop roots. Pest status explicitly described as unclear in available sources.

Subject of pheromone identification research for potential monitoring applications. Associated with agricultural systems where wireworm damage to crops occurs.

• Agriotes lineatusBoth are click beetles in the same genus with similar morphology and wireworm larvae; A. lineatus was detected in the same eDNA study of yard waste and is also an agricultural pest.

• agricultural pest
• pheromone
• wireworm
• soil-dwelling
• western North America
• click beetle

• BugGuide
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Agriotes lineatus Archives - Entomology Today
• Beetle in a Haystack: Environmental DNA Reveals Invasive Pest Incursions
• Identification of the Major Sex Pheromone Component of the Click Beetle Agriotes ferrugineipennis.