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Parasitoids of potential pest insects Insects that parasitize and kill other insects are called parasitoids. In their immature stages these parasitoids live in or on the body of another insect (the host), but they are free-living as adults. Many of the parasitoids of insects in Manitoba are either wasps or flies. Parasitic wasps do have what looks like a stinger, but they use this to lay eggs in the insects that they are parasitizing, and will not sting people.
Crops

PHOTOS: A guide to beneficial insects

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Reading Time: < 1 minute There are thousands of insect species in the fields across Canada. But how can you tell which are the beneficial insects and which bugs are trouble? Here’s a quick guide to help you identify and protect the good bugs that prey on the bad ones. This guide is also available on the Manitoba Agriculture website at www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture […] Read more
Researchers with AAFC in Saskatoon are working on CerealAphidBOSS, an app to predict thresholds for cereal aphids.
Crops

Crop pest scouts may gain from ‘app’lied knowledge

Insect ID is a challenge — but Prairie entomologists say there will soon be an app for that, and a whole lot more

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Reading Time: 7 minutes One of the most challenging aspects of crop protection will always be the flying, crawling and chomping critters that show up every season, hoping to take a bite out of your profits. There are a lot of them, they can be hard to tell apart, and wind and weather can determine if insects arrive in […] Read more
High levels of root maggots have been observed in some canola fields. Could the reason be that flea beetle sprays early in the season wipe out natural predators of these maggots?
Canola, Crops

Help the insects eat each other

Insecticides don’t just kill the bad bugs — they also kill their enemies

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Terry Young has never sprayed for insects. “I’ve had the odd bertha and lygus in my canola and wheat midge in my wheat, but they haven’t been an issue for as long as I’ve been farming, which is 30-plus years now,” he says. Young farms at Lacombe, which is one of the most productive agricultural […] Read more
Alberta and Saskatchewan had heavy flea beetle pressure this year.
Crops

Grasshoppers, aphids top crop pests in 2015

There were some of the usual suspects, but also some welcome parasitic visitors

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Reading Time: 5 minutes At what point is it too late for control? This is a question Prairie producers ask every year, and every year the answer is slightly different, depending on weather and the state of the crop. This year, many producers had to decide how firmly to respond to pest pressures hovering around the economic threshold. Scott […] Read more
The introduction of biological controls looks and sounds impressive, but like any of the other pillars of IPM management (cultural, mechanical/physical or chemical), it takes time and sound management skills.
Crops

The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) challenge for today’s crops

Are you keeping on top of all these new pest-control opportunities?

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Reading Time: 8 minutes The term has been around for decades, and it trips off our tongues as easily as “no-till management” and “cover crops.” Yet one of the challenges, even for those in search of a silver bullet in crop management, is the constant evolution of the term “IPM.” Its meaning is rapidly evolving, and so are the […] Read more
It takes a lot of flea beetles to cause economic loss late in the season and spraying is rarely warranted, but scenes like this in 2015 caught growers’ attention.
Canola, Crops

A busy year for flea beetles in canola

Beetles galore! Best practices for 2016 remain seed treatment and good stand establishment

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Reading Time: 4 minutes The new generation of adult flea beetles was thick on canola fields in August, nibbling pods and capping off what had been a busy year for the costly insect pest. Bob Elliott, integrated pest management scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Saskatoon, saw a fivefold increase in adults captured in sticky traps in […] Read more
Female parasitic wasp with midge eggs.
Cereals, Production

Beneficial insects can reduce the economic threat if wheat midge arrives

Two natural predators 
can help with wheat midge problems if you foster their populations

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Wheat midge, a non-native pest that feeds on developing wheat kernels, is a serious economic threat to farmers, especially in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. But the pest is now a growing problem in Alberta, including Peace River country, and starting to attack Montana’s wheat crops. However, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers know ways to reduce its […] Read more
aphids on a soybean leaf
Crops

Beneficial insects can fight in your corner, if you let them

A new field guide will be available both electronically and in print in time for you to use through the upcoming crop year

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Reading Time: 6 minutes Farmers are only hurting themselves if they aren’t giving a helping hand to the natural allies in the fields that can assist them in controlling pests. Nature not only provides, as the old proverb says. Research proves that it also pays. In fact, new research even tells us how much it pays. Natural pest suppression […] Read more
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug -on Venus dogwood plant
Crops

Pest Patrol: Why are stink bugs in Ontario?

Stink bug damage found on two apple farms near Hamilton and Waterdown

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Question: A couple of years ago there was a lot of talk about a new invasive insect, some sort of stink bug. I was told that it could take a few years before this insect reached populations that would negatively affect crops. What are populations of this insect doing in Ontario? For our answer, I […] Read more
Five years of midge tolerance
Crops

Five years of midge tolerance

As its acreage continues to climb, the message is to keep protecting the unique Sm1 gene

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Reading Time: 3 minutes This summer marks the fifth anniversary of producers in Western Canada growing and protecting midge-tolerant wheat. Since the launch of the first commercial varieties in 2010, the industry has witnessed strong uptake of the technology that helps producers defend against orange blossom wheat midge, a pest that can significantly reduce crop yield and grade. Not […] Read more

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