Trap Catches to July 08, 2022.

Aphid vector captures increased this week with more traps reporting and numbers at active sites slightly increasing.  We are still well behind last year with fewer aphids being recovered in traps than in 2021 (see the maps below for a comparison of this year and July 09 last year).  This is understandable given last year's drought played havoc with the fungal diseases that control aphid populations.  The spring rains and cooler temperatures this year hopefully allowed those fungi to rebuild and cause some mortality.  

Cereal aphids remain low as do soybean aphids.  Mostly we have recovered species that are associated with several other crop hosts; cotton melon and buckthorn aphids have been recovered in different locations.  The late planting in all cropping systems has probably contributed to the low aphid counts so far.  As always, as other crops start to mature, especially small grains, we can probably expect to see some more aphids finding their way into potato fields.     

Keep scouting, we'll keep counting...

Click on any image below for full-scale version.

Cumulative PVY Vector Risk Index to July 08, 2022

Cumulative PVY Vector Risk Index to July 09, 2021 (please note different scale) 

Aphid Species Capture and PVY Vector Risk Index for the week ending July 08, 2022

Cumulative Aphid Species Capture and PVY Vector Risk Index to July 08, 2022

Trap Catches to July 01, 2022.

The year has started out slowly in some spots, with delayed plantings in many northern locations.  The traps have been running in a few locations for a couple of weeks but very little is being collected so far.  Seems the aphids may be getting a slow start as well.  A grand total of 7 vector aphids have been collected over the past 2 weeks and the vector risk is correspondingly low in those locations that are trapping.  As more traps come online, we'll see if the pattern is widespread.  So far it's been a thin mix of Cotton/Melon aphids, some thistle aphids and a Buckthorn aphid or two.  

Weather is changeable, and warmer temperatures may favor the development of aphid populations, so the situation may well change...

Keep scouting, we'll keep counting...

Click on any image below for full-scale version.

Cumulative PVY Vector Risk Index to June 27, 2022

Cumulative PVY Vector Risk Index to July 02, 2021 (please note different scale) 

Aphid Species Capture and PVY Vector Risk Index for the week ending June 27, 2022

Cumulative Aphid Species Capture and PVY Vector Risk Index to June 27, 2022