Q&A with Jen Browning, PCA

Jen Browning, Technical Service Representative, gives us the download on a new dual-action, broad spectrum BASF insecticide that provides powerful control of surface-feeding insects. It’’s called Alucion 35 WG Insecticide and it's set to enter the golf market this summer.

1 BASF is launching its first turf insecticide this year. Can you tell us a little about this new product?

Alucion™ 35 WG Insecticide is a combination insecticide that harnesses the power of alpha-cypermethrin and dinotefuran to control tough turfgrass pests like nuisance ants and surface feeders. Both active ingredients are broad spectrum with rapid onset of activity, but they work so well together because the pyrethroid binds tightly to the plant cuticle to deliver contact and feeding activity, and the neonicotinoid is translaminar and systemic providing contact activity and lengthening residual. Whether turf pests feed from the inside or outside, this combination provides excellent knockdown and strong residual.

2 Why would a superintendent choose Alucion over one of the other insecticides available to control these pests?

The efficacy data for Alucion 35 WG insecticide got our attention and the attention of our university colleagues: 30-days residual on cutworms, 28-days on armyworms, 32-days on webworms, 28-days on annual bluegrass weevil (ABW) larvae, 56-days on chinch bug juveniles, and 30-days on nuisance ants. These are results from individual trials conducted in real-world conditions, and we’ve run turfgrass safety trials the same way on both warm-season and cool-season turf types.

We’ve made Alucion 35 WG Insecticide easy to work with: it is the only pyrethroid-containing product for golf without a restricted use label. We’ve also made it easy to handle: it’s conveniently packaged in a 38-ounce bottle that treats two acres with a cap that measures out 1/8 of an acre at a time. It’s formulated to mix quickly and easily, and it stays in solution.

3 With a single use rate and one application per year, how can this product be used to manage difficult-to-control pests on the course?

This is what makes Alucion 35 WG insecticide simple to use: when you see the pest, make an application of 0.44 oz/1000ft2 or 19.2 oz/A. For most pests, there’s no need for sampling or complex degree day modeling (with exceptions being crane flies and mole crickets). Alucion insecticide fits into in season rotations when it’s convenient for the superintendent. At the height of summer ant season, Alucion insecticide can be applied as a barrier repellant around putting greens, approaches and bunker faces, keeping mounds and nuisance ants away from play, heavy traffic and low mow areas.

Superintendents can add larvicides for annual bluegrass weevils, or baits and insect growth regulators (IGRs) for ants, creating strong programs for the turfgrass pests in play. In low pressure situations and in northern states, or for insects with short seasons and fewer generations per year like some billbug species, more applications and products may not even be needed.

4 Speaking of annual bluegrass weevil, ABW is an important pest in the northeast. Listed as suppressed on the Alucion label, what kind of activity should we expect from an application?

Alucion 35 WG insecticide performed very well in our ABW trials, providing between suppression and control levels of reduction in larvae. The most effective control is achieved with program approaches with product rotations because this pest causes substantial turf damage, produces overlapping generations and has a perennial tendency to build up large populations. Alucion insecticide is a great partner for ABW control, applied in season followed by larvicides then adulticides as needed to capture subsequent generations.