Biology of the Superb Plant Bug, Adelphocoris superbus (Uhl.) (Hemiptera: Miridae), in Southern Alberta

1956 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Lilly ◽  
G. A. Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Economic Importance ◽  
Immature Seed ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Alfalfa Seed

The superb plant bug, Adelphocoris superbus (Uhl.), is a serious pest in some alfalfa seed fields in southern Alberta. It feeds on the unopened bud clusters, causing them to whiten and die (bud-blasting). Under cages, it has also caused flower-drop, stunting of plants, and destruction of immature seed (Sorenson, 1954). When numerous it may prevent fields from producing enough bloom for the alfalfa pollinators in the vicinity, and in such numbers is of economic importance to the seed-growers. The number of bugs necessary for an economic population thus varies inversely with the pollinator population on the field.

Ecology of the Leaf-cutter Bee Megachile perihirta Ckll. (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Relation to Production of Alfalfa Seed

1956 ◽  
Vol 88 (11) ◽  
pp. 625-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Flight Period ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Alfalfa Seed ◽  
Nesting Habits ◽  
Mixed Prairie ◽  
Ground Nesting ◽  
Distribution Frequency

The relative importance as pollinators of alfalfa of each of the 14 species of Megachile that occur in southern Alberta has been assessed on the basis of Alberta distribution, frequency and abundance in mixed prairie, nesting habits, pollen preferences, and flight period; two ground-nesting species of the subgenus Xanthosarus Rob., Megachile perihirta Ckll. and M. dentitarsus Slad., were judged the principal pollinators (Hobbs and Lilly, 1954).

Gall Aphids on Poplar in Alberta II. Periods of Emergence from Galls, Reproductive Capacities, and Predators of Aphids in Galls

1959 ◽  
Vol 91 (11) ◽  
pp. 680-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Harper
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Sugar Beets ◽  
Poplar Trees ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Pemphigus Betae ◽  
Poplar Leaf

In southern Alberta there are several species of aphids that produce galls on poplar trees (Harper, 1959). These aphids are all in the subfamily Eriosomatinae and in the genera Pemphigus Hartig, Thecabius Koch, and Mordwilkoja Del. G. Two of the species are of economic importance, Pemphigus betae Doane, a pest of sugar beets in Alberta and parts of United States (Harper, 1957; Maxson, 1916; Parker, 1915), and Pemphigus populitransversus Riley, a serious pest of crucifers in Texas (Wene and White, 1953). Both species overwinter on poplar as eggs. In spring the fundatrix emerges from the egg and feeds on the poplar leaf, initiating a gall in which the winged fundatrigeniae are produced. During the summer the fundatrigeniae migrate to the secondary host where they produce the wingless alienicolae; in the fall these in turn produce the winged sexuparae, which migrate to the poplars where they produce the wingless sexuales. The female sexuales, after mating, deposit eggs on the poplars to complete the life cycle (Harper, 1957; Jones and Gillette, 1918; Parker, 1914).

Alfalfa and Red Clover as Sources of Nectar and Pollen for Honey, Bumble, and Leaf-cutter Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)

1957 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 230-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Red Clover ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Relative Attractiveness ◽  
Alfalfa Seed

The most important factor affecting the densities of pollinating species of bees on alfalfa seed fields in southern Alberta is competing flowering growth (Hobbs and Lilly, 1954, 1955). This is a report on the relative attractiveness of red clover and alfalfa to honey, bumble, and leaf-cutter bees in southern Alberta. Observations were made on the first crops grown in each of two newly cultivated and irrigated areas near Hays; the fields were isolated from all other entomophilous crops by at least five miles of virgin prairie. A third series of observations was made on crops grown in the isolated river valley near Lethbridge previously described by Hobbs and Lilly (1955).

Life-History and Behaviour of Trogoderma parabile Beal (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

1960 ◽  
Vol 92 (8) ◽  
pp. 611-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. Loschiavo
Keyword(s):  
Personal Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Cereal Products ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Science Service ◽  
Service Building ◽  
Eurasian Species

Trogoderma parabile, a Nearctic species, was first described by Beal in 1954. In 1956 he reported it as a fairly common pest of granaries in California. In 1957, E. A. R. Liscombe (personal communication) recovered all stages of T. parabile in large numbers from flour mills and feed warehouses in Southern Alberta. In 1958, Brooks reported it from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where it occurred in several feed mills and was found infesting grain samples stored in small envelopes in the Science Service building. These reports are the first records of T. parabile in Canada. A closely-related Eurasian species, Trogoderma granarium Everts, is a serious pest of stored cereal products in hot dry parts of the world and is well-established in some parts of the United States and the United Kingdom but is not found in Canada. T. parabile, however, can adapt itself to colder conditions and may become a pest of economic importance in some parts of Canada.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) Seed Yield Loss Due to Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

1991 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Moyer ◽  
G. Bruce Schaalje ◽  
Peter Bergen
Keyword(s):  
Medicago Sativa ◽  
Linear Equation ◽  
Seed Yield ◽  
Yield Loss ◽  
Linear Equations ◽  
Cirsium Arvense ◽  
Average Yield ◽  
Canada Thistle ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Alfalfa Seed

Alfalfa seed yield and Canada thistle densities were measured in 10 fields in southern Alberta to assess the effect of thistles on seed yield. Thistle density and seed yield from each field were fitted to the Weibull, hyperbolic, and linear equations and a random coefficient and linear equation were used to obtain an “average yield loss curve”. Estimated average losses in alfalfa seed yield were >34% and >48% at thistle densities of 10 and 20 shoots m–2, respectively.

Quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) Interference and Control in Seed Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Moyer ◽  
G. Bruce Schaalje
Keyword(s):  
Seed Yield ◽  
Hyperbolic Model ◽  
Threshold Density ◽  
Economic Threshold ◽  
Elytrigia Repens ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Herbicide Treatments ◽  
Alfalfa Seed ◽  
Seed Yields ◽  
And Control

Alfalfa seed yield and quackgrass density were measured in seven irrigated fields in southern Alberta to assess the effect of quackgrass on seed yield. Six herbicides were tested to determine their effect on quackgrass growth and accompanying alfalfa seed yield. The effect of quackgrass on seed yield was adequately described by a hyperbolic model. Quackgrass densities of 50 and 100 heads per m2reduced seed yields by 56 and 74%, respectively. The economic threshold density was 3 quackgrass heads per m2. The most effective herbicide treatments, quizalofop and propaquizafop, resulted in good initial quackgrass suppression and yield increases similar to those predicted by the hyperbolic model.

Burning of alfalfa stubble for insect control as it affects soil chemical properties

1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Dormaar ◽  
B. D. Schaber
Keyword(s):  
Pest Management ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Management Programme ◽  
Soil Chemical Properties ◽  
Total N ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Pest Insects ◽  
Alfalfa Seed ◽  
Subsequent Crop

Southern Alberta growers often burn fields of seed alfalfa (Medicago sp.) prior to initiation of growth in the spring as a part of an Integrated Pest Management Programme. An 8-yr study compared the effects of (a) fall-burned every year, (b) spring-burned, prior to growth, every year, (c) spring-burned, prior to growth, every other year, and (d) zero burned, on various chemical properties of the upper 50 mm of soil. Burning led to highly significant increases in carbohydrates, total N, NO3-N, and extractable K over the 8 yr. Increases were also highly significant for NH4-N under the fall-burned every year regime. Spring-burning, prior to growth, every other year, led to the least accumulations of measured parameters. Although pest insects were controlled and pedigreed alfalfa seed production was increased under the various burn treatments examined within the conditions of the experiment, changes in certain soil chemical properties identified the need to monitor subsequent crop behavior once the alfalfa fields have been ploughed. Key words: Fire, prescribed burning, pest management, seed alfalfa

QUANTIFICATION OF MANDIBULAR WEAR OF FEMALE ALFALFA LEAFCUTTER BEES, MEGACHILE ROTUNDATA (F.) (HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE), BY IMAGE ANALYSIS

1993 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.G. Kokko ◽  
B.D. Schaber ◽  
T. Entz
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Digital Image Analysis ◽  
Megachile Rotundata ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Alfalfa Seed ◽  
Leafcutter Bee ◽  
Mandibular Teeth ◽  
Seed Yields

AbstractIn southern Alberta, alfalfa seed yields are related to the amount of pollination that occurs before mid-August by the major pollinator, the alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata (F.). Cutting the leaves causes wear to the bee’s mandibular teeth and could reduce the bee’s pollination efficiency and, ultimately, seed production. A method is described for employing digital image analysis to measure mandibular tooth areas for alfalfa leafcutter bees. The method is relatively quick and has high precision and repeatability. This method was used to measure the area of the mandibular teeth for leafcutter bees, before and after foraging in alfalfa seed fields, to evaluate differences in mandibular wear. Analysis of mandibles showed that foraging leafcutter bees collected in late July had significantly smaller tooth areas than pre-foraging bees collected prior to release in June.

Species of Lygus, Liocoris, and Their Allies in the Prairie Provinces of Canada (Hemiptera: Miridae)

1955 ◽  
Vol 87 (12) ◽  
pp. 531-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard A. Kelton
Keyword(s):  
Economic Importance ◽  
Canadian Prairies ◽  
Important Species ◽  
North Central ◽  
Agricultural Region ◽  
The North ◽  
Alfalfa Seed ◽  
Prairie Provinces

The Lygus complex was treated as a number of genera and subgenera in a recent paper (Kelton, 1955). The genus Liocoris Fieber now contains the economically important species, the pratensis group, referred to collectively in the literature as the “lygus” bugs.In the Prairie Provinces of Canada, several species of the pratensis group are of economic importance mainly in the growing of alfalfa seed, especially in the north-central agricultural region and in the irrigated areas of the southwest. A review of the names used in dealing with these pests on the Canadian prairies showed that most of them were based on misidentifications, although fortunately the use of the names has been fairly consistent. Such widely recorded and used names of Lygus pratensis (L.) and L. elisus Van D. have each been used for specimens of another species, and L. hesperus Kngt. for those of three other species.

The ultrastructure of the double membrane-bound bodies and endoplasmic reticulum in serial sections of wheat spot mosaic-affected wheat plants

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 694-695
Author(s):  
M. H. Chen ◽  
C. Hiruki
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Membrane Structure ◽  
Mosaic Disease ◽  
Serial Sections ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Double Membrane ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
Scanning Em

Wheat spot mosaic disease was first discovered in southern Alberta, Canada, in 1956. A hitherto unidentified disease-causing agent, transmitted by the eriophyid mite, caused chlorosis, stunting and finally severe necrosis resulting in the death of the affected plants. Double membrane-bound bodies (DMBB), 0.1-0.2 μm in diameter were found to be associated with the disease.Young tissues of leaf and root from 4-wk-old infected wheat plants were fixed, dehydrated, and embedded in Spurr’s resin. Serial sections were collected on slot copper grids and stained. The thin sections were then examined with a Hitachi H-7000 TEM at 75 kV. The membrane structure of the DMBBs was studied by numbering them individually and tracing along the sections to see any physical connection with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes. For high resolution scanning EM, a modification of Tanaka’s method was used. The specimens were examined with a Hitachi Model S-570 SEM in its high resolution mode at 20 kV.

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