Friday, September 15, 2017

Trap Catches Identified to September 15

Greetings!




Welcome to the Aphid Alert update for the week ending September 15. We are winding down the season with only 4 sites reporting and only 13 total vector aphids captured. Most sites have closed down and I expect that next week will be our seasonal summary.


Although few aphids were captured this week, 2 sites reported Green Peach Aphids (2 from Brooks MN and 1 from Tappen ND). Otherwise only several other vector species were recovered from the traps.

While there was very little additional Vector pressure added this week, the season's cumulative PVY Vector Risk was very high for the 2017 season.

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.

The PVY Risk Index Index  Not all species of aphid are equally efficient at transmitting PVY, some are better than others (green peach being the most efficient vector of PVY).  So, the total number of aphids in a trap don't necessarily reflect just how much vector pressure there is at that location. The PVY Vector Risk Index compares aphid numbers, incorporating their relative vector efficiency compared to the Queen of PVY vectors (green peach aphid!).  Using averaged reference comparisons from the literature, we multiply the number of each aphid species captured by its efficiency compared to Green Peach Aphid to more accurately depict risk posed by the species being trapped.  We then sum the totals.  The PVY-VRI values are presented on the tables below but also on maps comparing current cumulative risk to the total risk from the sample sites of last year (to compare with your local winter grow out results).

Click on Any Image for Full Sized Version

Total 2016 PVY Vector Risk Index for Comparison

Weekly Trap Capture by Location


Cumulative Seasonal Capture & PVY Vector Risk Index by Location