These larger larvae cause much greater damage than they did the year before. After overwintering again well below the soil surface, white grubs pupate early in the following summer, and adults emerge from pupal cells in the spring three years after the cycle began. Adult beetles hide in soil during the day and fly to trees to feed at night. On such sites, plow the field and let it lie fallow or in a rotational cover crop such as sudan grass, or buckwheat, or a salable crop such as pumpkins or squash, for at least one season prior to planting with strawberries. Avoid setting a strawberry field next to large grassy fields that could be a source of these beetles and their larvae.
Several formulations are on the market.
Once this kind of bacteria is established in the soil, grub control is perennial and effective. An insecticide labelled for grub control can be banded over the row to reduce the amount and cost of insecticide treatment. The larvae of root weevils feed on strawberry roots and crowns, which can weaken, stunt, or kill plants. Root systems weakened by weevils are then more susceptible to winter injury and disease infection. Infested plants can have leaves that turn red, and berries that are undersized.