Outbreaks of mealybugs have recently been reported from a number of cotton farms in central Queensland. While mealybugs are considered a minor pest of cotton, they have, on rare occasions, reached minor outbreak levels or ‘hotspots’ in commercial crops in central Queensland
Just when you thought things were going along pretty well, something else pops out of the woodwork to bring you back down to earth. Some cotton consultants and their grower clients are concerned about the high numbers of thrips in their young cotton seedlings. Are they are problem? Do we need to control them?
Every year we receive reports of white heads in wheat, and while there are several possible causes of this symptom, one suspect implicated in the crime is a small stem boring larva called Ephysteris silignitis (Turner) belonging to the moth Family Gelechiidae.
The quick finish for winter cereals this season has resulted in the majority of crops escaping infestations of armyworm. Headers are already into some fields, but there are reports of armyworm making their presence felt in some of the later crops.
The Resistance Roadshow visited regional areas during late August and presented the latest resistance monitoring results for a suite of important pests. Presentations covered resistance to conventional insecticides in cotton aphids, mites, silverleaf whitefly and helicoverpa, and helicoverpa resistance to the Bt toxins in Bollgard II.
With the approach of spring, helicoverpa start to become active. In CQ, chickpea crops are attractive to moths, and it is timely to revisit some of the key points related to making decisions about control of this pest in crops.In this article, I wanted to discuss a couple of the recommendations which some growers and agronomists have found a bit… Read more »
The most critical issues we face in managing cereal aphids currently is the lack of local knowledge about the likely impact of infestations on yield and quality (the damage thresholds). (http://thebeatsheet-ipmnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/cereal-aphids-in-wheat-and-barley.html).
In recent days we have received a number of reports of slater activity in winter cereal crops in southern Queensland and northern NSW. Slaters are not generally regarded as a pest of broad acre agriculture and tend to feed on decaying vegetation and dead animal matter. Overall they perform an important recycling role in the environment however on rare occasions… Read more »
Field crickets High numbers of field crickets have been reported across the Darling Downs in the last couple of weeks, with some large aggregations of adults attracted to lights at night. Are these crickets doing damage to crops? The answer may well be yes. .
Mirids can cause significant crop losses in mungbeans with yield reductions of up to 25-50% common where high mirid populations (eg 10/m2) are left uncontrolled. Mirids can reduce yields by 60 kg/ha for every mirid/m2 of crop. Mirids can be present in mungbeans at any stage from seedlings to podding. Budding, flowering and early-podding crops are at greatest risk. Low… Read more »