The soil-dwelling larvae of several Scarabaeidae species (white grubs), like the cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) and the garden chafer (Phyllopertha horticola), are serious pests in European cultivated grassland, reducing grass yield and destroying the turf by root-feeding. Nevertheless, the factors responsible for the development of large grub populations and the associated damage risk are poorly understood. The objectives of the study were to survey grub densities in grassland sites with different damage histories and find correlations with environmental and management variables. Data on grub densities were collected at 10 farms in the eastern Austrian Alps in September and October 2011. At each farm, one recently damaged site (high risk) and one site at which grub damage had never been observed by the farmers (undamaged site = low risk; each site: 500 m(2)) were sampled. All sites were dominated by P. horticola (99% of 1,422 collected individuals; maximum density 303 grubs/m(2)), which indicates that grub damage there is mainly caused by that species. Recently damaged sites tended to higher grub densities than undamaged sites. However, 3 out of 10 undamaged sites harbored high grub populations as well. Humus content together with the depth of the A-horizon significantly explained 38% of P. horticola grub density variance, with highest densities in deeper humus-rich soils. The risk of grub damage was positively connected to the humus content and negatively related to the cutting frequency. For the investigated mountainous grassland sites, these results suggest an important role of humus for the development of high grub densities and an effect of management intensity on grub damage.
Keywords: Cutting frequency; Hoplia philanthus; Humus; Melolontha melolontha; Phyllopertha horticola; White grubs.