Voles

The voles , essentially underground habits of rodents feed on the roots of many plants vegetable or not. Salads, especially in tunnels, are not immune to their actions.

They eat away at their roots to the neck. It does not take long for the plants to suddenly wilt (Figure 1).

By turning the latter over, we see that the roots have completely disappeared and that the stem is nibbled (figure 2).

The exit of a gallery signals the passage of these rodents (figure 3).

Several species of voles can be responsible for these harmful effects on salads, in particular the Provencal vole: Microtus duodecimcostatus (formerly Pitymys duodecimcostatus ).