Red Headed Pasture Cockchafer
Friday 4 February 2011
In Victoria the redheaded cockchafer,Adoryphorus couloni,(Bermeister) is periodically a common pasture pest, especially in some areas of South West and Central Victoria and Gippsland districts. It is also a pest of pasture in NSW (particularly in the southern tablelands), South Australia (lower south-east region) and Tasmania (northern area).
It appears to be a problem in areas where the annual rainfall is greater than 500 mm, but is only problematic in the drier years in these zones. The wetter seasons results in a substantial reduction in their population possibly due to drowning, disease and being trampled by animals.
They tend to be more prolific on the lighter sandy loams and silty loam soils but in the 2006/07 drought, were occasionally found on clay loams of the flats. This is probably due to the extended dry period theses soils had experienced since the very wet years of 1995 and 1996.
A two day forum dedicated to furthering research on the Red Headed Pasture Cockchafer problem was held in Melbourne in early February. This forum saw scientists, dairy industry personnel and leading farmers from Australia and New Zealand collaborate to understand the extent of cockchafers on pasture and to understand the factors driving the spread and expansion of the cockchafers throughout Victoria. The intention of the Forum was to understand the systemic factors that will allow identification of effective and cost-efficient management strategies and avoid management that ineffectively treats the symptoms of the problem rather than the causes
A fact sheet is available from the Department of Primary Industries - The Redheaded Pasture Cockchafer.