Notes on Limitations of Natural Control of Phytophagous Insects and Mites in a British Columbia Orchard

1956 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Marshall ◽  
C. V. G. Morgan

When an apple orchard is abandoned in Eastern Canada the trees may continue to grow reasonably well for many years. As a rule the fruit is ruined by apple scab, but damage from insects or mites may be relatively minor. Under such conditions, phytophagous insects and mites are commonly held to an acceptable commercial level by natural control factors. On the other hand, when an apple orchard is abandoned in the semi-arid, southern interior of British Columbia the trees generally die from desiccation in a short time. Occasionally, when particularly favoured by sub-irrigation, they may survive for ten years or more. But they produce no marketable fruit; invariably it is ruined by insects. Unlike the abandoned eastern orchard. that in British Columbia his little natural protection from the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.), and the blister mite, Eriophyes pyri (Pgst.), to mention but two common pests.

1957 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
June M. Stephens

Trials to determine the extent of fruit protection given by spraying spores of Bacillus cereus Frankland and Frankland on apple trees exposed to natural attack from the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.), were carried out in the experimental apple orchard of the Entomology Laboratory at Summerland, British Columbia. Heavy injury was expected there on trees not receiving commercial insecticide applications. Ten test and ten check trees were chosen at random. Check trees received no treatment of any kind. Test trees were treated with six sprays between May 26 and June 29, 1954, and five between August 5 and September 8, 1954.


2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Williams ◽  
John G. Strang ◽  
Ricardo T. Bessin ◽  
Derek Law ◽  
Delia Scott ◽  
...  

Although the interest in and production acreage of organic fruit and vegetables has grown in recent years, there are questions about the viability of perennial crops such as apple (Malus ×domestica) in an organic system in Kentucky because of the long, hot, and humid growing season. Thus, the objective of this project was to assess the severity of the challenges to organic apple production in Kentucky. A high-density, organic apple orchard was established in 2007 in the University of Kentucky Horticultural Research Farm in Lexington. The orchard of apple scab (Venturia inaequalis)–resistant ‘Redfree’, ‘Crimson Crisp’, and ‘Enterprise’ trees on ‘Budagovsky 9’ (B.9) rootstock, trained in a vertical axis system, was managed using organically certified techniques and materials for disease and insect control since its inception. Tree growth, tree and fruit injury from insect pests and diseases, and yield over the period 2011–13 were studied. Periodic, shallow cultivation kept the ground beneath the trees free of vegetation once the lower limbs were pulled up and away from the path of the equipment. Vole (Microtus sp.) damage was a continuing problem despite the use of trunk guards and cultivation to remove habitat around the trees. Total fruit yield ranged from 1.2 to 8.1 kg/tree across years and cultivars, with the marketable proportion of the total yield averaging 68% for Redfree and 43% for Crimson Crisp and Enterprise over the 3-year period. The unmarketable fruit exhibited a high incidence of plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) damage, with generally less damage from codling moth (Cydia pomonella) and sooty blotch (Glosodes pomigena)/flyspeck (Schizathyrium pomi). In addition, in two of the three seasons, ‘Crimson Crisp’ and ‘Enterprise’, which were harvested at later calendar dates then ‘Redfree’, had significant levels of powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha) injury, ‘Enterprise’ had significantly greater bitter rot (Glomerella cingulata), and ‘Crimson Crisp’ showed fruit and foliar damage from cedar apple rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae). Because ‘Redfree’ was the only cultivar with an acceptable marketable proportion of the fruit crop, the use of early ripening disease-resistant apple cultivars may have the greatest potential for successful organic apple production in Kentucky and the surrounding region.


1982 ◽  
Vol 114 (11) ◽  
pp. 1083-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. F. Madsen ◽  
B. J. Madsen

AbstractA 2-year study was conducted in an organic, essentially pesticide-free orchard and in one which followed a complete pesticide program to assess populations of beneficial arthropods. There were far more beneficial species in the pesticide-free orchard both on the trees and in the cover crop. Spiders increased dramatically in the organic orchard and relatively few spiders were found in the sprayed orchard. Pest species were below treatment thresholds in both orchards with the exception of codling moths. By the second season, codling moth injury was so severe in the organic program that the non-pesticide program had to be abandoned.


1948 ◽  
Vol 80 (1-12) ◽  
pp. 138-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Wilkes ◽  
H. C. Coppel ◽  
W. G. Mathers

The spruce budworm, Choristoneura (Archips) fumiferana (Clem.) (Tortricidae) has long been considered one of the most injurious forest insect pests in Canada. A general account of past outbreaks and an outline of its biology and bahits are given by Swaine and Craighead (1924). At the time these studies were made investigations were also undertaken by J.D. Tothill and A.B. Baird on the parasites and other natural control factors of the spruce budworm, but although a good deal of work was done, brief reference to which is made by Hewitt (1911, 1912, 1913), very little has been published.


1958 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. T. Silver

The silver-spotted tiger moth, Halisidota argentata Pack., is a potentially dangerous defoliator of Douglas fir in British Columbia. Natural control factors have always prevented populations from building up to destructive proportions.The literature contains little information on this insect. Fletcher recorded the first outbreak of what was probably H. argentata in British Columbia in 1887 (2). Moths were identified as H. sobrina Stretch, but this form is now recorded only from California so it was probably H. argentata. The outbreak, probably on southern Vancouver Island, was reported as “committing great depredations on the spruces here.” Mathers found H. argentata at Chilliwack in the Fraser River Valley in 1934, but there was no report of an outbreak (4). A few larvae were collected on southern Vancouver Island from 1936 to 1952. In 1953 a considerable number of colonies were observed, and the following year the silver-spotted tiger moth was in infestation proportions. In 1955 the outbreak increased in intensity, and spread northward to the limit of its known range. A survey in the spring of 1956 failed to find a single colony south of Lantzville, and the population in the northern portion of the range was greatly reduced.


1978 ◽  
Vol 110 (10) ◽  
pp. 1095-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.D. Proverbs ◽  
J.R. Newton ◽  
D.M. Logan

AbstractBecause laboratory and field cage experiments had shown that partially sterile (25 krad dose) male codling moths were sexually more competitive than sterile (40 krad) ones, a study was made in a British Columbia orchard in 1970 to determine whether release of 25 krad moths of mixed sexes would suppress this pest more effectively than release of 40 krad moths. Approximately 75,000 moths/ha were released from 24 April to 25 September for each dose level. In the 25 krad moth release plot, the percentage of apple fruits damaged by this pest at harvest was reduced from 0.21 in 1969 to 0.08 in 1970, whereas in the 40 krad plot damage was reduced from 0.04 in 1969 to 0.02 in 1970.Release of 25 krad moths was also compared with insecticide sprays for codling moth suppression in two small areas at Cawston and Olalla, B.C. At Cawston, the percentage of apples damaged at harvest was reduced from 1.0 in 1969, after three sprays of phosalone, to 0.1 in 1970 after release of irradiated insects. In contrast, per cent damage in a nearby apple orchard, sprayed twice with azinphos-methyl in 1969 and 1970, increased from 2.0 in 1969 to 8.1 in 1970. At Olalla, per cent damage was about the same (0.5) in 1969, after three phosalone sprays, as in 1970 (0.6) after release of irradiated insects. In a neighboring apple orchard, sprayed twice with phosalone in 1969 and 1970, per cent damage was about the same (1.0–1.2) each year.


1968 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. T. Silver

AbstractThe life history of the Sitka spruce weevil, Pissodes sitchensis Hopk., is described. Adults overwinter in duff at the base of trees and emerge in April or early May. Oviposition begins in late April on leaders. The larvae hatch and mine downward, eventually girdling and killing the leader. Larvae pupate in chip cocoons under the bark. Newly developed adults start emerging in August and, prior to hibernation, feed on leaders of young trees. Adults have been observed in the field as late as December.Predators caused heavy mortality but the weevil population maintained itself and increased in some years. Parasitism was light. Natural control factors reduced the population level but were incapable of controlling a population. Satisfactory control was obtained by applying DDT and phosphamidon to leaders with a hand-sprayer early in the spring, but repeated applications would be necessary to protect a plantation through the critical years.Damage to Sitka spruce regeneration and plantations in British Columbia is severe. At present, protection of Sitka spruce plantations would require considerable expense.


1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-141
Author(s):  
M.L. Gleason ◽  
M.K. Ali ◽  
P.A. Domoto ◽  
D.R. Lewis ◽  
M.D. Duffy

Integrated peat management (IPM) strategies for control of apple scab and codling moth (Cydia pomonolla) were compared with a traditional protestant spray program in an Iowa apple orchard over a 3-year period. IPM tactics for scab included a postinfection spray program and an integrated, reduced-spray program based on the use of demethylation inhibitor fungicides. Codling moth spray timing was determined by pheromone-trap captures and degree-day models. The IPM tactics resulted in an average of three fewer fungicide sprays and two fewer insecticide sprays than the protestant program. Neither yield, incidence of fruit scab, nor incidence of codling moth injury on fruit was significantly different among the two IPM treatments and the protestant treatment. A no-fungicide treatment had significantly lower yield and greater scab incidence than the other treatments. A partial budget analysis indicated that the treatment using the postinfection strategy was more costly per acre than the protectant program for orchards <20 acres, about equivalent in cost for 20 acres, but leas costly for 40 acres. A treatment incorporating the integrated, reduced-spray strategy was less costly than either postinfection or protestant strategies at orchard sizes from 5 to 40 acres. Return (total revenue - cost for control of primary scab and codling moth) per acre for the IPM strategies was somewhat lower than for the protestant program.


1982 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 457-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Burke ◽  
Jean Percy

The large aspen tortrix, Choristoneura conflictana Wlk., occurs throughout the range of trembling aspen, Populus trernuloides Michx., in Canada and the eastern United States (Baker 1972). Outbreaks of the insect occur over large areas, but these outbreaks generally collapse in 2 to 3 years. The principal effect of this pest is to reduce growth of aspen, but it causes little tree mortality (Batzer 1972). Prentice (1955) reviewed the history of outbreaks of C. conflictana in Canada from 1912 to 1953 and the natural control factors of the insect. He reported an extensive parasite complement. Dead and apparently diseased insects were examined, but the only pathogen noted was infection of overwintering larvae by the fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Bals .) Vuill.


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