. Agri-news. Agriculture. August 13,2001 Diamondback moths an unusual pest As canola crops mature, producers are getting more concerned about protecting their investment. This year with canola prices rising, there is significantly more interest in ensuring as many bushels as possible are harvested, so pest issues become more of a topic. The fact that an unfamiliar pest, the diamondback moth is present raises many questions with producers. What is a diamondback moth? The adult is a small (1/3 inch) gray moth with a series of wavy, yellowish markings of their wings. When the wings are folded whi
. Agri-news. Agriculture. August 13,2001 Diamondback moths an unusual pest As canola crops mature, producers are getting more concerned about protecting their investment. This year with canola prices rising, there is significantly more interest in ensuring as many bushels as possible are harvested, so pest issues become more of a topic. The fact that an unfamiliar pest, the diamondback moth is present raises many questions with producers. What is a diamondback moth? The adult is a small (1/3 inch) gray moth with a series of wavy, yellowish markings of their wings. When the wings are folded while the moth is at rest, these markings come together to form three yellow diamonds. "It's not the moth that causes concern," says Jim Calpas, provincial integrated pest manager with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Edmonton. "It's the larvae from the eggs the adult lay that do the damage. The eggs are deposited on the leaf near the veins. When the larvae hatch, they immediately burrow into the leaves and start mining the tissue from inside. After about a week the larvae exit from the underside of the leaf. The larvae are small, clear to pale green worm like creatures that can be found initially on the leaves and eventually on the pods of canola plants. When disturbed, the larvae often wriggle vigorously. They may also hang from a thread if disturbed on a plant. Their scraping-type pod feeding causes yield loss in canola by removing the protecting surface tissue of the pods, preventing seed filling and increasing the risk of pod ; Why do we have so many this year? This year was unusual in that we had very high numbers of diamondback moths carried on the winds blowing up from the southern states very early in the spring. As the entire life cycle of the diamondback moth is completed in as little as 21 and up to 50 days, there has been time for two or even three generations of diamondback moths to occur. Each female lays an average of 160
Size: 1816px × 1376px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcollectiontoronto, bookleafnumber223, booksubjectagriculture
