I had a few calls and emails yesterday about cereal leaf beetle in both winter and spring wheat. Damage was significant enough even in the winter wheat near Stayner and Bolton to warrant a spray. These winter wheat fields in particular were still in the earlier heading stages with 5 weeks to go before harvest. […]
There is a bit of confusion out there amongst our trap participants who are trying to identify their catches. Western bean cutworm (WBC) has a few look a likes. Plus Large Yellow Underwing moths are flying around this year which is confusing matters. Pay extra attention to the details that are on the wings. Here […]
A few of our WBC trap network participants reported catching moths in their traps last week. This is a week later than last year. Moths were found at a few trap locations scattered across the province. And more reports are coming in this week from those out checking traps during this weeks’ travels. This could […]
It’s been quite a week and it’s only Tuesday. Many of you are calling about one of these pest issues so hopefully I can help answer all of your questions here. Grass Sawfly in Wheat: Once you start to see sawfly feeding (see previous blog for pics and details) the feeding damage is nearly done. […]
I was hoping this was a one time pest that showed up last year. But there have been some wheat fields in the Highgate/Muirkirk to Kerwood areas that are seeing grass sawfly feeding. It is easier to identify grass sawfly since they feed during the day. They also have a characteristic feeding habit of clipping […]
Lots of reports are coming in of black cutworm and armyworm damage in Ontario. Black cutworm has been found feeding in numerous corn fields and even an alfalfa field. Locations that I know of so far include fields near: Parkhill, Watford, Embro (alfalfa field), Renfrew County, and parts of West Elgin. True armyworm has also […]
I’ve been pondering our planting situation lately and what impacts it is going to have on some of our key insect pests. We’ve been anticipating this year to be a good soybean aphid year for Ontario. It was such an extremely low aphid year last year that natural enemies didn’t build up their populations. So […]
I realize it has been a difficult planting season to say the least. But one issue that growers need to consider is that spring canola fields planted later than the first week of June are at significant increased risk of experiencing swede midge damage. Research conducted by Rebecca Hallett at the University of Guelph found […]
Despite all this rain, pests are still doing quite well out there, as long as they have something to eat. We had a lot of snow cover this winter which has helped insulate any insects that overwinter and the cool wet soils are helping these soil pests remain active. Some are just waiting for their […]
Now that some of you have been fortunate enough to get some corn in, I am hearing reports and seeing tweets that soybean planting has also started. If there was a year to protect your soybeans with an insecticide seed treatment it is this year. Bean leaf beetles are going to be awfully hungry waiting […]
States to the south of us have been reporting intense black cutworm moth captures over the last few weeks. The continuous storm fronts that keep moving across Ontario could be carrying some of these moths to us. In addition, rain has kept us from getting into the fields to manage the annual weeds (especially chickweed) […]
Anyone interested in participating in this year’s WBC Trap Network in Ontario is asked to contact us so that we can make sure that we have you on our list. If you have replied to an email from us already this month about trapping, then that is great. We’ve got you on the list already […]
Fact or Fiction #2 – “Some trap sites in 2010 were catching 1000s of moths per day!” This is completely false. At least from the data that came in to me from the 471 trap sites being monitored last year. No trap location caught more than 600 moths in ONE WEEK, let alone on a […]
There are a few “facts” about our western bean cutworm research being delivered to growers at various meetings this month that are not correct. I am sure the reps are not intending to mislead growers but I thought it was a good time to get the correct message out there, straight from the horse’s mouth, […]
Some of you may have heard about this one in the news recently. The brown marmorated stink bug, BMSB for short, is the next invasive species that we need to be concerned about. It’s a triple threat since it not only feeds on hort crops but also field crops and overwinters in homes, becoming a […]