Trap Catches identified to June 06/15

And so it begins.....
Traps have begun to report and there have been some aphids flying already.  Including one Green Peach Aphid recovered from Ada, MN!

Not an auspicious start to the year but I suspect the winged GPA recovered in the trap is a recent immigrant to our fair Valley.  The winds were right for immigration events two weeks ago and we had rain, which would have brought airborne aphids to the ground.

While it's doubtful we have treatable populations of aphids in potatoes yet, this week's trap catch indicates it's never too early to start scouting...

Scouting for aphids in potatoes:
- Select leaves from the lower to mid canopy.  Lower, older leaves will have more established colonies and aphids prefer the balance of nutrients found here; aphids are rarely found on leaves in the upper canopy.
 - Avoid leaves on the ground or in contact with the soil.
 - In seed potatoes there is only a threshold for PLRV (10 aphids/100 leaves), reactive application of insecticides an effective control for PVY.
 - The use of feeding suppressing insecticides, such as pymetrozine (Fulfill®) or flonicamid (Beleaf®) and refined crop oils, such as Aphoil and JMS Stylet Oil, at or prior to field colonization by aphids may reduce the transmission of PVY within fields. Some other insecticides, such as clothianidin (Belay®), imidacloprid (Admire Pro® or Provado®), and spirotetramat (Movento®), have also been demonstrated to reduce the transmission of PVY.
- In table stock potatoes, a treatment threshold of 30 aphids /100 leaves should deter yield loss due to aphid feeding.