AHDB Aphid News

The second edition of AHDB Aphid News - for the week ending 22 April 2018 - has just been released:

Despite record breaking temperatures during this bulletin week, the total number of aphids flying and species diversity increased only slightly.

• The first willow ̶ carrot aphid was caught at Starcross this bulletin week, three days earlier than the 10-year mean.
• No peach–potato aphids (Myzus persicae), potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) or the black bean aphid (Aphis fabae) have been caught so far this year.
  

Rosemary Collier : 27 Apr 2018 16:31 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Pest update from Wellesbourne

Between 24th April and 27th April our 3 yellow water traps captured:

• Cabbage root flies - 51 males and 10 females
• Bean seed flies - 153
• Pollen beetles - 9
• Flea beetles - 2

We also checked the carrot fly traps and caught 5 flies - our first in 2018!

There were no diamond-back or silver Y moths in our traps (2 traps per pest).

There were 6 cabbage root fly eggs from 15 plants!

Rosemary Collier : 27 Apr 2018 16:29 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Pest update from Wellesbourne

Between 17th April and 24th April our 3 yellow water traps captured:

• Cabbage root flies - 65 males and 6 females
• Bean seed flies - 39
• Pollen beetles - 321
• Flea beetles - 28
• Cabbage stem weevil - 31
• Cabbage seed weevil - 28

We also checked the carrot fly traps and still no flies captured so far in 2018!

We caught 1 diamond-back moth in our 2 traps and no silver Y moths (2 traps).

No cabbage root fly eggs yet!

Rosemary Collier : 24 Apr 2018 19:07 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

AHDB Aphid News

The first edition of AHDB Aphid News for 2018 has just been released:

• The switch from weekly to daily suction-trapping commenced on 5 March, before that catches were weekly.
• The sudden change in weather, including the upturn in air temperature this calendar week, has prompted the beginning of this year’s aphid reporting.
• No peach–potato aphids (Myzus persicae) or willow-carrot aphids (Cavariella aegopodii) have been caught so far this year.
• The shallot aphid (Myzus ascalonicus) is the most numerous aphid species in the suction-trap samples to date and has been caught in all of the traps from Kirton south.

Rosemary Collier : 20 Apr 2018 15:20 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Pest updates from Wellesbourne

Between 10th April and 17th April our 3 yellow water traps captured:

• Cabbage root flies - 12 males and 2 females
• Bean seed flies - 33
• Pollen beetles - 1224
• Flea beetles - 3
• Cabbage stem weevil - 35
• Cabbage stem flea beetle - 1

We also checked the carrot fly traps and still no flies captured so far in 2018!

We caught 1 diamond-back moth in our 2 traps and no silver Y moths (2 traps).

Rosemary Collier : 17 Apr 2018 16:38 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Pest counts at Wellesbourne

Between 3rd and 10th April our 3 yellow water traps captured:

• Cabbage root flies - 1 female
• Bean seed flies - 22
• Pollen beetles - 1375
• Flea beetles - 1
• Cabbage stem weevil - 9

We also checked the carrot fly traps and still no flies captured so far in 2018!

Rosemary Collier : 10 Apr 2018 19:00 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Trap captures today

Between 27th March and today our 3 yellow water traps captured:

• Cabbage root flies - 0
• Bean seed flies - 31
• Pollen beetles - 10
• Flea beetles - 0
• Cabbage stem weevil - 19

We also checked the carrot fly traps and still no flies captured so far in 2018!

Rosemary Collier : 03 Apr 2018 17:13 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

First trap captures of the year

We put three yellow water traps out on 20th March and this is what we found in them on 27th March:

• Cabbage root flies - 0
• Bean seed flies - 11
• Pollen beetles - 183
• Flea beetles - 2
• Cabbage stem weevil - 19

We also checked the carrot fly traps and no flies captured so far in 2018!

Rosemary Collier : 03 Apr 2018 10:33 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Carrot fly activity during the winter

For the last two years we have extended the period when we have carrot fly traps out in the field. In 2016 we put the traps out on 23 February, caught the first fly on 1st March and the last fly by 20th December. Since then traps have been out continuously and in 2017 we caught our first fly on 7th March and our last fly on 28th November. We're still waiting to catch the first fly in 2018!

Rosemary Collier : 22 Mar 2018 16:07 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

First aphid forecasts for 2018

Forecasts for three important pest aphids of vegetable and salad crops – peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae), potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) and cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae) have been released via AHDB Aphid News.

Despite the brief cold snap at the end of February, typical winter temperatures have fallen in line with the long-term average throughout most of England, meaning that first flights of these aphids are likely to occur at the ‘normal’ time – and neither be very early or very late. Temperatures in Scotland, however, were around half a degree lower than the long-term average and the first aphid flights could be around a week later than average in these areas.

The long run of aphid data from the suction-trap network, managed by Rothamsted Research, combined with the long run of weather data available from the Met Office and others, make it possible for the start of aphid flights and aphid abundance in spring and early summer to be forecast. The mean temperature in January and February is critical in driving the results arising from the aphid forecasting service.

Forecasts are available only for aphid species which pass the winter in active stages, rather than as cold-hardy eggs, as they are able to take advantage of warm conditions. Forecasts for the species that overwinter as eggs (willow-carrot aphid, lettuce root aphid, currant-lettuce aphid, black bean aphid) will be available later as part of the AHDB Pest Bulletin.

Rosemary Collier : 22 Mar 2018 15:58 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem