The Diaprepes root weevil (Diaprepes abbreviatus) is the most serious insect pest of citrus in the United States. This invasive insect was first detected in the United States in 1964 in Apopka, Florida, and has become established in many crops in Florida, in including corn, sugarcane, woody ornamentals, and citrus.
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FlaRes, working with a variety of collaborators, has investigated and documented the life cycle and ecology of this terrible pest. FlaRes uses this understanding to develop, field test, and demonstrate best management practices to control this pest.
In 1990 FlaRes made the first detection of this pest in Indian River County citrus in its demonstration groves. Diaprepes root weevil now infests more than 18% of Floridas commercial citrus acreage, according to Floridas Division of Plant Industry. Diaprepes causes tree decline and mortality, decreased crop yield, increased production costs, and reduced packouts, threatening the economic viability of citrus.
In 1993, the Diaprepes Task Force, a coalition of state and federal scientists, regulatory personnel, and citrus and ornamental growers, was formed "to coordinate and facilitate research, education and regulatory efforts to manage this pest more efficiently". Bob Adair, FlaRes Executive Director, has been a member of the Diaprepes Task Force since 1994.
FlaRes continues to investigate and creatively portray the life cycle of this pest, to develop best management practices for its control as part of its holistic Sustainable Citrus Program, and to collaborate in trials to identify resistant rootstocks.
FlaRes monitors and charts the number of Diaprepes root weevils at its demonstration groves in Vero Beach with Tedders Traps arranged in a diamond-shaped grid. Two graphs have been created to chart these numbers. One counts the weekly abundance of Diaprepes. The other compares the numbers of Diaprepes from month to month from 1996 to the present.
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Little is known about the spatial distribution patterns of Diaprepes or the rate and direction of spread of Diaprepes root weevil infestations in citrus. FlaRes has pioneered the use of GIS tools to depict Diaprepes emergence over time throughout its entire demonstration grove.
Weekly adult weevil emergence data was obtained from georeferenced Tedders Traps and depicted in traditional Emergence Graphs (see above). To gain a greater understanding of the emergence of Diaprepes, GIS tools were used to analyze this data and to provide spatial interpolation of Diaprepes emergence for unmonitored areas for weekly periods for one to four years (2000‑2003).
Animation software was then utilized to combine the weekly interpolations into an interactive animation that create a visualization of the spatiotemporal aspects of Diaprepes emergence throughout the entire grove. In addition, these Diaprepes abundance interpolations were synchronously aligned with weekly rainfall data.
The resulting interactive animation successfully portrays different geographic and seasonal aspects of Diaprepes activity and rainfall patterns. This visualization of the spatiotemporal aspects of Diaprepes emergence facilitates a better understanding than conventional analysis of tabular or graphed data.
The ability to visualize additional factors such rainfall, soil temperature, or soil type in conjunction with spatiotemporal emergence will increase our understanding of the ecology of Diaprepes. This enhanced understanding and insight provides essential timing and location information necessary for precision application of crop protectants.
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