Friday 21 July 2017

Weekly Update (Jul 20, 2017; Wk 12) - Provincial Insect Pest Reports

Provincial entomologists provide insect pest updates throughout the growing season so we have attempted to link to their most recent information: 

● Manitoba's Insect and Disease Update for 2017 is prepared by John Gavloski and Pratisara Bajracharya and read Issue #9 (posted July 19, 2017) noting the continued presence of thistle caterpillar (Vanessa cardui) and their webbing in some soybean fields, aphids in some cereal and pea fields and diamondback moth near the economic threshold in some canola fields in the Central region. Reminder - Cumulative counts of bertha armyworm generated from weekly counts in Manitoba can be accessed here.


● Saskatchewan's Crop Production News - 2017 - Issue #4 includes information related to soybean pests prepared by Joel Peru. That report includes an update on scouting and management tips for painted lady butterflies (also described in Week 6) and Aphanomyces root rot. 
● Watch for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry's Call of the Land and access the most recent Insect Update (July 20, 2017) provided by Scott Meers. That report notes emergence of second generation of painted lady butterflies (V. cardui) which should be monitored closely in borage, soybeans and any plant in the sunflower family, but also watch volunteer thistle in canola since the larvae will move onto the latter if the thistle is consumed. Both cabbage butterfly and yellowish imported cabbage worm butterflies are active and laying eggs in cabbage and canola in that province. The wheat midge flight is nearly done but continue to scout late wheat that is still flowering. Finally, pea leaf weevil and cabbage seedpod weevil numbers appear to be lower in 2017 compared to 2016 which is good news.