IPM funding at risk

I have delayed weighing in on the developing Farm Bill because I share the views, more eloquently put, of many other organizations, including:
The Entomological Society of America
The Southern Region IPM Center
The Farm Press

However, I think it's time to add my voice to chorus in support of the restoration of the "406 Programs" to the 2011 Farm Bill. These programs not only support direct research on important agricultural issues (Program areas: Methyl Bromide Alternatives, Crops at Risk, and Risk Avoidance and Mitigation, among others), these are also the funds the support our state and regional IPM centers. These centers (North Central, Northeastern, Western, and Southern) are catalysts for IPM research, implementation, and practice and are essential to the work I do.

The House Agricultural Appropriations Committee has left funding out for CAR, RAMP, and regional IPM centers, but has resorted some of the 406 programs (MBT, Food Safety, and Water Quality). The loss of the regional IPM centers in particular would be devastating for applied agriculture research and extension in North Carolina. If you feel strongly about this type of research, now is the time to contact your representative and let them know that you support the mission of the 406 programs.

The NC House of Representatives Members can be found here.

Vineyard heat and drought stress alert

Developing grapes at Westbend Vineyards, Lewisville, NC. Photo: HJB

Dr. Sara Spayd, professor of viticulture in the NC State Horticulture Department, is warning of heat and drought stress in NC vineyards. The record heat this week has the potential to impact not only people but plants as well. See here to read Dr. Spayd's complete alert.

Right now, fruit quality and yield is of primary concern, but heat and drought stress can also have implications for insect management. Numerous wood boring beetles can attack grape vines in NC. Most wood boring beetles will not kill an infested vine outright and are rather a symptom of a larger problem weakening the plant. Drought stress is often the initial problem responsible for weakening vines.

In fall 2007, I visited a small vineyard that was planted in half Chardonnay and half Merlot. The Chardonnay vines were small but generally healthy. The Merlot vines, however, were virtually all dead or dying and riddled with several species of wood boring beetles.

Merlot vines and canes with extensive wood boring beetle damage (indicated by arrows). These perfectly round holes are adult beetle exit holes. Some larvae were still present in these vines as well. Photo: HJB

Wood boring beetle larvae collected from Merlot vines. The lower larva is likely that of a long horned beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and the insects in the upper image are likely shot hole borer larvae (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Photo: HJB

According to Dr. Spayd, Merlot is often the "canary in the coal mine" for drought stress. At this vineyard, neither variety had been irrigated the preceding summer, but the Chardonnay vines tolerated the stress better. Numerous beetles were attracted to the stressed Merlot vines and were the final straw that pushed them over the edge. Water is an important part of woody plants defenses against boring beetles. If there are only a few larvae in a tree or vine, the plant will use sap to flood them out. Water stressed plants are no longer able to mount this defense and can be taken over by beetles.

Cultural control is the best method of wood boring beetle management. Healthy vines will seldom host damage beetle populations. Any tissue that is infested with beetle should be removed during winter pruning and destroyed. If cuttings are left in the vineyard, beetles may be able to complete their development and re-infest vines the following spring. Chemical control is recommended. Chemicals will not effectively treat larvae inside vines, and targeting adults is difficult due to their high mobility and the large number of species potentially present.

One beetle is an exception to the rule in that it will attack healthy vines as well as weak vines. The granulated (formerly Asian) ambrosia beetle can potentially damage healthy vines. Granulated ambrosia beetle is a serious problem in nursery production, but does not appear to be widespread in NC vineyards at this time.

More information
Vineyard Alert: Extreme Heat and Droughty Conditions Affecting NC Vines
Granulated ambrosia beetle in NC

Blackberry psyllid at the Sandhills - a little known pest

Blackberry primocanes infested with blackberry psyllid nymphs. The shortened internodes and tightly curled leaves are indicative of blackberry psyllid. Photo: HJB

My blackberry research plots are at the Sandhills Research Station, which is a great place to work for a number of reasons. One these reasons is this the Sandhills have unique pest pressures not easily found elsewhere. Blackberry psyllid (Trioza tripunctata) is one of these pests. Blackberry psyllid adults are small, cicada-like insects, and the nymphs are small and wingless. Both life stages feed on phloem and damage plants. Blackberry psyllids are tightly associated with their overwintering host, pine trees, and because of this, their distribution is closely tied to proximity to conifers. Although there is very little literature on blackberry psyllid, the sources that are available suggest that plantings within 1/8 mile of conifers are at the greatest risk of psyllid damage while those further than a mile from conifers rarely have blackberry psyllid damage.

Life cycle

Adult blackberry psyllids over winter in conifers and move to caneberries in spring (probably April in North Carolina) where they lay eggs. The adults will remain in blackberries for several days, and the characteristic leaf curling will develop after about a week. Very low psyllid numbers can produce this injury. Nymphs will develop on the undersides of leaves, progress through 5 instars, and move into their overwintering host in the fall. Blackberry psyllids likely have only 1 generation in the southeast.

Damage

Adult psyllid feeding produces curled leaves and shortened internodes, and at the Sandhills, this damage is mostly on primocanes. This suggests that adults may have moved into plantings later than April, unlike the current available sources suggest. Some canes are affected from the tip down, while others appear to be damaged on the underside of the cane, causing it to curl downward. The nymphs feed from the underside of the leaf and produce wax structures.

The underside of a damaged blackberry leaf with developing psyllid nymphs. Photo: HJB

Blackberry psyllid nymph. The large wax strands are produced by the larvae. Photo: HJB

Curled leaves also provide refuge for other arthropods. I have found spider mites, predatory mites, thrips, and spiders in these leaves so far this season. Spider mites and thrips are potential plant pests, but predatory mites and spiders are beneficial, so these refugia may provide some benefit to the plant.

Spider mite found on blackberry psyllid damaged leaf. Photo: HJB

Management

Cultural control, in the form of site selection, is the most important management strategy for blackberry psyllid in the southeast. The infrequency of blackberry psyllid damage in commercial blackberry production is likely due to distance from conifers.

For locations where psyllid is a problem, we are investigating management strategies this summer, first looking at systemic insecticides that are effective against other psyllids. I treated several plots with imidacloprid on June 22 and will be collected 2 week after treatment samples this Saturday.

SWD Webinar 2 Scheduled

National Agricultural Pest Information System map of SWD trap captures. Click to enlarge. Source: NAPIS

The second of 2 webinars for volunteer SWD trappers has been scheduled for July 14th at 2pm. Contact Hannah if you would like more information on this training session.

SWD male. Source: UCIPM

Those interested in SWD who are not currently trapping (especially county agents and other "first responders") are welcome to attend. You will need the webinar address and password, which I will send you upon request.



Sponsored by the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium, Project 2010 E-01.

Once in a blue moon

It's been a hectic (and productive) field season, but being this busy means that lab members are rarely in the same place at once. So, imagine my surprise this afternoon when everyone was in the lab working at the same time! Shelley, M.S. student studying blueberry pollination ecology; Monique, M.S. student studying tobacco splitworm larval biology; and Richard Reeves, Ph.D. student revising tobacco treatment thresholds were all setting up various experiments.

Shelley was measuring and weighing blueberries from pollination efficiency locations. Monique was assessing no-choice feeding assays, and Richard was setting up a bioassay.

This lab togetherness won't last for long; tomorrow all of us are back out in the field. But I had to snap a picture with everyone working!

NC Tobacco Tour July 19-21st

Field sites on the 2007 Tobacco Tour. This was my first official event as a new NCSU faculty member--before my official start date of Sept. 1, 2007. Photo: HJB

The NC Tobacco Tour will take place July 19-21. The Eastern NC Tour will begin with a sponsored dinner on July 19th in New Bern, NC and continue to field sites on July 20th. Our program will be presenting projects on thrips flight prediction, tobacco splitworm ecology (Monique's project), and new insecticides & threshold revisions (Richard's projects).

Our Stokes County trial location, after transplant. Photo: HJB

The Western NC Tour will take place on July 21st, and we will be visiting a lepidopteran management trial in Stokes County.

You can find all the tour details here.

NCSU Tobacco Tour Information

Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium Newsletter

The latest edition of the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium Newsletter has been posted. In this quarter's issue is a summary of 2010 SRSFC funded projects, strawberry & muscadine updates, and a recap of the Small Fruits Field Day adapted from my post.

Our lab was fortunate to have 2 projects funded by the SRSFC this year. Our blueberry pollination work is supported by a research grant and the spotted wing drosophila monitoring network is supported by extension funds. We greatly appreciate SRSFC's support of these projects!

SRSFC Newslettter. v. 10(3).