Trap Catches Identified to August 02, 2019
GreetingsTrap counts for the Aphid Alert Network continue to rise; higher catches were seen in all sites reporting. The Ada MN trap reported a total of 42 aphids from 8 different vector species. The Crookston, Gully and Staples trap sites all reported double digit catches of vectors as well. A number of different vector species were recovered but no Green Peach Aphids so far. As expected, a lot of sites were reporting cereal aphids, especially English Grain Aphid - this species seems to have had a good year...
The overall PVY Vector Risk Index values remain similar to those of last year but we are catching up... If aphid numbers continue to increase, the PVY Vector Risk Index could quickly rise.
Aphid Fact of the Week - Many aphid species, including many of the aphids that vector PVY, have a strong preference for eating a particular species of plant during the summer season. As our summer progresses and many of those plant species mature and their physiology changes, the nutritional quality of their sap decreases. Aphids, in response, will eventually develop a generation of winged aphids which will disperse, seeking food of greater nutritional value. This is why our aphid catches tend to rise later in the season and we begin to recover species like the cereal aphids.
As always, keep on scouting!
Click on any image below for full-scale version.
Cumulative PVY Vector Risk Index to August 02, 2019.
Cumulative PVY Vector Risk Index for 2018 (for comparison)
Aphid Species Capture and PVY Vector Risk Index for July 19-26, 2019
Cumulative Aphid Species Capture and PVY Vector Risk Index to July 26, 2019