By: Sandy Higton

Sandy Higton — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:32:00 +0000

We are growing canary this year and followed the instructions on the oat & corn aphids until we found that the corn aphid was not leaving as the crop came into head. The aphids made their way into the heads of the canary and into the top most leaf sheaf. Despite the fact we had many beneficials, the crop began to suffer because of the sheer number of aphids. We were most surprised to find so many in the head of the canary.

By: buglady

buglady — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:20:00 +0000

John Sandow (GRDC) and once an avid aphid lover has pointed out that I overlooked mentioning the potential impact of fungal diseases on aphid populations. Aphids are susceptible to infection by fungi, and fungal diseases can be responsible for ‘crashes’ in aphid populations. You might see aphids infected by fungus – they become stuck to the plant by white ‘fluff’. Aphids will die from fungal infections within 3-5 days. Often these disease outbreaks occur when the populations are large and the fungus can easily infect a large number of aphids in close proximity. I’m not sure how often these kinds of outbreaks occur in winter cereals. Essentially, if you revisit your fields you should be able to tell whether the aphid population is increasing or decreasing. Counting the relative number of large and small aphids (mothers and babies) might help get a handle on whether the population is breeding up or not.

Comments on: Cereal Aphid Update

By: Sandy Higton

By: buglady