PestFacts WA

Final PestFax newsletter for 2017!

This is the 26th and final weekly issue of the PestFax newsletter for the 2017 growing season. Extra editions may be circulated if extraordinary circumstances occur. PestFax will resume weekly newsletter issues in Autumn 2018. All of this season’s PestFax newsletters can be found at the department’s PestFax newsletter archive.

The PestFax team thanks all those people who took the time to send pest and disease reports in this year. All reports are greatly appreciated and are vital for PestFax to keep readers informed and up to date with the pest and disease situation in their area.

2017 PestFax statistics

This year the PestFax team received 844 reports in total (current to 23 October 2017). This is less than the 1164 total reports received in 2016, but last year the PestFax service played a large role in the state Russian wheat aphid surveillance.

Approximately 227 of these reports were submitted using the new PestFax Reporter app. 163 of the reports submitted via the app had an image or images attached that assisted DPIRD experts with identification and confirmation of insects and diseases.

What were the top five reported diseases for 2017?

There were 178 disease reports received in total by the PestFax team via a variety of means. Powdery mildew was the most reported disease, followed by barley leaf rust. Table 1, below, displays the other diseases that were most commonly reported.

What were the top five reported pests?

The PestFax team received 649 invertebrate pest reports in total. The native budworm moth trapping program was the most reported with reports coming in from both the spring moth trapping survey (221) and field reports (32). Green peach aphids and diamondback moth caterpillars were the insects most reported by the public. The top five insects reported are listed in Table 2, below.

2017 PestFax map statistics

The PestFax map provides a visual display of the pests and diseases reported by the industry. Viewers can choose a host, a disorder and a time period. They can also select a 'Same time as last year' map view to highlight seasonal commonality or differences.

In 2017, an impressive 8826 maps were generated as of 23 October. This number includes every map generated between each dropdown box selection.

Maps that displayed ‘All’ disorders were generated the most with 5888 generated.

Sclerotinia stem rot was the disorder map most specifically generated, followed by powdery mildew occurrence maps. To see what the other top disorder maps viewed were refer to Table 3, below.

For more information on the PestFax service please contact Cindy Webster, PestFax newsletter editor, Narrogin on +61 (0)8 9881 0201.

For information on the PestFax Map or PestFax Reporter app please contact Art Diggle, Senior Research Officer, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3563.