Category Archives: Pests

How to check for parasitism in whitefly populations.

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We have fielded numerous enquiries this week from consultants who would like to assess levels of whitefly parasitism. This is achievable in the field with the use of a hand lens. Parasitism levels appear to be a little down from last year, but still good levels have been recovered. Parasitism so far has ranged from 50-90% in Emerald, 35% in… Read more »

Dealing with chemical shortages for whitefly management – Zara Ludgate

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We have received numerous enquiries about whitefly in the last week especially from the MacIntrye and Lower Namoi areas. Shortages of chemicals to control whitefly is currently of major concern to many growers and consultants in this region. Many enquiries also relate to species identification. Whitefly samples identified from the MacIntyre and Lower Namoi areas have been 100% B biotype… Read more »

Managing Helicoverpa softly in vegetative soybeans

 While soybeans are more likely to be attacked by helicoverpa from flowering onwards, severe infestations can occur as early as the seedling stage. In recent years, severe early infestations have been reported on the Downs and in the coastal Burnett with the affected crops experiencing significant yield losses.  The latest published thresholds for helicoverpa in vegetative soybeans (Rogers and Brier,… Read more »

Chemigation for corn earworm control

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However, in some years, very high pest activity results in more severe cob damage, with larvae often tunnelling into the sides of cobs. In such cases grain samples may contain fungus-affected grains and mycotoxins, causing a downgrade in the quality of harvested grain.

Mealybugs in cotton

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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

Recce for armyworm in winter cereals

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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.

Refresher on managing helicoverpa in chickpea

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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 »

Winter cereal aphids – background to the potential impact of infestations

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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).

What is eating my soybean pods?

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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. .