Background: Significant etiella outbreaks have recently been reported in soybeans and mungbeans on the Darling Downs, in the South Burnett (SE Qld) and in the Moree and NorthernRivers regions of NSW. In some soybean crops on the Downs, 100% of plants were infested and 72% of axilliary buds damaged to varying degrees. These outbreaks are similar but more widespread than… Read more »
Large numbers of different spotted larvae have recently been observed in many mungbean crops. The spotted larvae of the bean pod borer remains a significant pest of mungbeans yet the spotted fungus eating ladybird larvae poses no threat to crops. In recent years, significant populations of bean podborer larvae (Maruca vitrata) have been reported in crops as far west as… Read more »
Etiella (Etiella behrii) larvae have been observed in significant numbers (up to 10 larvae per square metre) in vegetative soybean crops in the Cecil Plains/ Pampas regions of the Darling Downs, and in low numbers (<1/sqm) in a DAFF soybean trial at Kingaroy. These infestations are likely due to the current hot and dry seasonal conditions which historically favour increased… Read more »
