All entries for May 2013
May 24, 2013
Update from Rothamsted Insect Survey
Writing about web page http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/insect-survey/STAphidBulletinArchive.php?Year=2013
The latest Aphid Bulletin has just been released. Aphid activity is still very low.
However, 4 willow-carrot aphids (below) were caught at Broom's Barn and one at Writtle.
One potato aphid was caught at Rothamsted and we have also found a few potato aphids on one of our brassica plots at Wellesbourne.
This document summarises aphid information relevant to field vegetable and sugar beet crops aphid_news20130524.pdf
Rosemary Collier
24 May 2013 10:23
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May 21, 2013
Fly activity continuing at Wellesbourne
Yesterday's sampling at Wellesbourne yielded:
- 12 cabbage root fly eggs on 15 plants
- 144 carrot flies on 3 traps in our new carrot plot
- 4 silver Y moths in 2 pheromone traps
- 113 bean seed flies in 3 water traps
Rosemary Collier
21 May 2013 11:18
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May 17, 2013
Update from Rothamsted on suction trap captures
Writing about web page http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/insect-survey/Bulletins/2013WebBulletin3.pdf
Is it really May?
Bulletin week 3: 6 May ̶ 12 May started with two promising summer-like days but then quickly deteriorated with autumn-like gales, which severely restricted further aphid flight activity. Daytime temperatures hovered at or below aphid flight threshold levels. Very few field reports have been received, but there must be some aphids out there which are continuing to develop in readiness eventually for flight, should warm, still conditions return. The few aphids we did catch in the suction-traps this bulletin week were still mainly tree aphids: in particular, the first captures of the sycamore aphid, Drepanosiphum platanoidis, at four sites, a month later than 2012. A single glasshouse and potato aphid, Aulacorthum solani, was caught at Starcross, plus four shallot aphids, Myzus ascalonicus (Elgin 2, Preston 1 and Kirton 1).
Rosemary Collier
17 May 2013 20:41
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Update on pests at Wellesbourne
Today we found:
Carrot fly - 6 flies on 3 traps in the overwintered carrot plot and 41 flies on 3 traps in the new carrot plot - so a considerable increase on Tuesday's captures.
Cabbage root fly - 47 eggs on 15 plants - again an increase on Tuesday's count.
We also caught 1 silver Y moth (2 traps).
Rosemary Collier
17 May 2013 20:37
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May 16, 2013
Cow parsley, cabbage root fly and carrot fly
Writing about web page http://data.kew.org/wild/phenology/
It has long been known that first generation cabbage root fly (and also carrot fly) lay their eggs at the time that cow parsley (it has several other common names) (Anthriscus sylvestris) is in flower. Whilst this is certainly true, it is difficult to get a very precise fix on the start of egg-laying by either pest from the cow parsley. Is it when the first flowers appear or when most of the umbel is flowering……..?
This year, with its cold spring, demonstrates clearly that the insects and the cow parsley do respond to spring temperatures in a similar way – since in the West Midlands, all three species are very ‘late’. The cow parsley is only just beginning to flower (see below).
Interestingly, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have some web pages devoted to phenology – which is the study of the timing of plant and animal behaviour in relation to changes in climate. One of the species they consider is cow parsley.
Rosemary Collier
16 May 2013 18:42
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May 14, 2013
Trap captures on Monday 13th May at Wellesbourne
A summary of captures in our yellow water traps is here: insects_captured_in_yellow_water_traps_located_in_an_overwintered_crop_of_swede_at_warwick_crop_centre_13_may.pdf
There were a few cabbage root fly eggs - a total of 6 on 15 cauliflower plants.
Carrot fly numbers have increased a bit. We caught a total of 2 flies on 3 traps in our overwintered carrot plot and 7 flies on 3 traps in our new carrots.
We caught 4 silver Y moths (2 traps).
Rosemary Collier
14 May 2013 09:56
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May 10, 2013
Latest insect captures at Wellesbourne
The yellow water traps have just been checked (last done on 7 May). The information can be found here: insects_captured_in_yellow_water_traps_located_in_an_overwintered_crop_of_swede_at_warwick_crop_centre_10_may.pdf
We recovered 4 cabbage root fly eggs from 15 cauliflower plants.
We also caught (since yesterday) our first carrot fly of the year!
Rosemary Collier
10 May 2013 15:04
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Few aphids take to the air
The latest Aphid Bulletin has just been published http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/insect-survey/Bulletins/Bulletin%202%202013.pdf. During Bulletin week 2: 29 April ̶ 5 May near normal temperatures were enough in windy conditions to tempt only very few of the low number of aphids into the air. Shallot aphids (Myzus ascalonicus) were recorded at Preston and Starcross. Myzus ascalonicus is a particular pest of shallots and strawberries. There is more information on this species here: http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/insect-survey/STMyzus_ascalonicus.php. Other than that the only aphids found were tree aphids which do not feature on the bulletin.
The first two days of the current week (6+7 May) were warmer and reasonably still. The Rothamsted team have already looked at the samples from the Rothamsted trap for these days and found mainly tree aphids and no important crop pests. Many crops are well behind last year and growing slowly, but aphids are even further behind so are likely to arrive in more mature crops than usual, reducing risk of damage and virus spread. There has been a field report of nymphal potato aphids (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) with wing buds on an overwintering plot of Sweet Williams in southern England. This suggests that some winged forms should be ready for flight in the near future.
It remains possible that good weather over the next two months could lead to aphid populations doing well as a result of a paucity of natural enemies, which are likely to fare badly as a result of the current low number of aphids. If this happens it is most likely to affect direct feeding damage (e.g. on cereal ears) rather than virus spread, but late sown crops could still be at risk from viruses.
Rosemary Collier
10 May 2013 10:38
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May 07, 2013
The warm weekend has increased pest activity
Not surprisingly, the warm weekend has moved things on a bit at Wellesbourne. Today our 3 water traps contained a total of 16 female and 130 male cabbage root flies. We also found some cabbage root fly eggs around plants in our monitoring plot (11 eggs from 15 plants). In addition, we caught our first silver Y moths in pheromone traps.
Still no carrot fly on our traps. We definitely have overwintering pupae in the vicinity so are expecting to catch some carrot flies soon.
Rosemary Collier
07 May 2013 17:46
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May 03, 2013
Update from the Rothamsted Insect Survey
Rothamsted Research have just issued the first Aphid News bulletin for 2013:
No news is good news .....
This spring we are witnessing one of the slowest starts to an aphid season in almost 50 years of continuous aphid monitoring. Despite a modest improvement in day-time temperatures we are still getting some night time frosts. No crop aphids were caught anywhere in our suction trap network during bulletin week 1 : 22-28 April. Crops are generally late as well, so the game is far from over.
Whilst the lack of aphids is good news for us, it’s bad news for aphid predators, which may be going hungry. This could result in them producing low numbers of offspring, which could lead to aphids escaping some elements of natural control later in the season.
You can find more information on the Insect Survey here: http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/insect-survey/
Rosemary Collier
03 May 2013 15:34
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