PestFacts WA

Green peach aphids are colonising on imidacloprid treated canola

• Jennacubbine
• Muresk
• York
• Toodyay
• Tammin
• Cunderdin

Winged green peach aphid. Photo courtesy of: Dusty Severtson (DAFWA)

Entomologist Dusty Severtson (DAFWA) has found low numbers of winged green peach aphids (GPA) on leaves of early flowering canola volunteers near Jennacubbine. He also found low numbers of winged GPA on a poorly germinated canola crop near Toodyay.

Diamondback moth caterpillar. Photo courtesy of: Dusty Severtson (DAFWA)

Dusty also found low numbers of GPA, cabbage aphids and diamondback moth caterpillars on seedling canola in a poorly germinated crop near Muresk. Dusty found clusters of GPA and cabbage aphids on volunteer seedling canola near York.

Dan Taylor (DKT Rural Agencies) has found low numbers of GPA on Bonito and 43Y23 canola seedling crops near Tammin and Cunderdin. The seed had been treated with imidacloprid seed dressing and it is a worry that GPA are surviving on such small seedlings. Some crops are cotyledon to two leaf stage while others are 8-10 leaf and outgrowing much of the insect pressure. Dan said he will continue to monitor crops to see if the aphids increase in populations.

For more information on GPA visit DAFWA’s Aphid management in canola crops.

For more information on GPA insecticide resistance refer to the recent PestFax article Green peach aphid control in canola: Are we running out of options?

For more information contact Dustin Severtson, Development Officer, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3249.