What to Watch for in Wheat

Low levels of armyworm, cereal leaf beetles and grass sawflies have been spotted in various wheat fields over the last week. Scout to make sure these don’t get out of hand. With any of these, protecting the flag leaf is most important.  Armyworm and grass sawflies clip the wheat head off too. Armyworm feed at […]

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Lots of Insect Activity Still Out There

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.  […]

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Grass Sawfly Showing Up Again

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 […]

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More About Grass Sawfly

I had the fortune of speaking with specialists at the University of Delaware (Galen Dively and Joanne Whalen) yesterday and learned more about these grass sawflies.  Delaware finds them in many of their fields every year and scouts early each season to see if they are going to be a problem.  Here is what I’ve […]

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More Grass Sawfly Sites Found

Several wheat fields were found with grass sawfly north of London from Hyde Park to Kintore and St. Marys.  Damage averaged anywhere from 3 heads clipped per square meter to 30 heads clipped per square meter!  Reports have also come in from Rodney, Glencoe, Molesworth, Brussels and now northern Huron County. Scout fields to determine […]

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Grass Sawflies Clipping Heads in Wheat Too

There have been a number of reports of heads being clipped in wheat.  Some of it can be blamed on armyworm, but some cases (at least in Rodney) have been due to larvae known as grass sawflies.  These larvae are green to green-yellow in colour with a yellow brown head.  They look like caterpillars but […]

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