Diana Roberts WSU Extension, Keith Pike WSU, Terry Miller WSU, Steve Miller USDAAPHIS

1
Cereal Leaf Beetle Management Chemical or
Biological?

• Diana Roberts (WSU Extension), Keith Pike (WSU),
  Terry Miller (WSU), Steve
  Miller (USDA-APHIS)
• Mike Klaus (WSDA)

2
Outline
CLB damage in irrigated winter wheat, Union Co.,
OR Picture by Gary Brown

• CLB distribution
• Potential impact
• Identification Life Cycle
• Chemical management
• Biocontrols

3
CLB Distribution in USA

• 1962 found in Michigan
• Introduced from Europe 1940s
• Federal eradication quarantine failed
• Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana
• 1992 Idaho
• 1999 Oregon Washington
• June 7 East Farms
• Nine Mile Falls

4
CLB Hosts

• Oats Rye Fescue
• Wheat Wild rye Downy brome
• Barley Smooth brome Redtop
• Wild oats Foxtail millet Rice
• Quackgrass (Corn)
• Timothy Sorghum
• Rye grass Sudangrass
• Orchardgrass Bluegrass
• Canarygrass Millet

5
(No Transcript)
6
Impact - Quarantines

• Immediately imposed on any county positive for
  CLB
• Phytosanitary cert needed on all cereal grains,
  grass, straw, sod, and Christmas trees to Canada
  California
• 95 alfalfa hay excluded
• From infested counties - declaring phosphine
  fumigant
• Grain fumigated or cleaned in lt100 lb bags
• From clean counties declaring source

7
Impact - Yield Loss
Colville insectary
CLB crop damage

• Most severe in spring cereals, irrigated crops
• Canada
• winter wheat 25
• spring oats up to 75
• USSR
• 25 - 50 of crop
• Nine Mile Falls 2002
• Spr wht 36 bu vs 100 avg
• WSU plots 44 bu vs 60 bu

8
(No Transcript)
9
Impact Potential Cost to WA growers

• 600,000 acres spring wheat - 90 million
• Conservative 30 infestation - 21 million p.a.
• Insecticide 7-10/A 3-5/A application
• Spray 50 spring wheat 3 million p.a.

10
CLB Life Cycle
USDA-APHIS photo
Photo by G. Clevenger
11
Picture by Garrett Clevenger
Collops hirtellus (beneficial) Adult CLB
12
CLB larvae feeding damage
13
Stripe rust response
14
CLB Management - Chemicals
Remember, my children are home! Please dont
spray unless you absolutely have to

• Azinphos-methyl once per season
• Carbaryl (Sevin least hazardous to bees) 2
  applications only after heading
• Furadan Apply before heading, twice
  only/season. No forage feeding
• Malathion wheat barley only
• Karate synthetic pyrethroid, wheat only.
  0.02-0.03 lb ai/A. PHI 30 days
• Warrior - synthetic pyrethroid, 0.02-0.03 lb ai/A

15
CLB Economic Threshold

• 3 eggs or larvae per plant up to boot stage in
  spring cereals
• 1 egg or larva per flag leaf after boot
• 1 larva per flag leaf -gt 5-6 bu grain loss per
  acre
• From MT, not confirmed in WA
• Winter wheat should not incur economic damage

16
CLB Management - Biocontrols

• USDA CLB the first instance in which a pest of
  an annual crop grown in a temperate continental
  area successfully controlled by imported natural
  enemies
• Most successful in the eastern US
• Longer to establish in Utah

17
CLB Management - Biocontrols

• Predators - lady bird beetles
• Parasitoids - 4 introduced parasitic wasps
• 3 attack larval stage
• 1 attacks egg stage
• Fungus - Beavaria bassiana
• Suppresses population

18
Larval parasitoid Tetrastichus julis2
generations/yr
19
Photo by Terry Miller
20
CLB larva parasitized by T. julis
Picture by Garrett Clevenger
21
Picture by Terry Miller
Egg parasitoid Anaphes flavipes 6-8
generations/yr
22
CLB eggs parasitized (dark) by A. flavipes and
non-parasitized.
Picture by Garrett Clevenger
23
Picture by Kathlene Peck
24
Nine Mile Falls Insectary
Picture by Kit Cutler
25
2006 Parasitoid releases

• 3,087 T. julis (larval parasitoid)
• As parasitized CLB larvae
• 9,994 A. flavipes (egg parasitoid)
• As parasitized CLB eggs

26
WA Progress summary

• 2000 Hitchcox made first T. julis releases at
  9-Mile
• 2002 First field insectary at Nine Mile Falls
  (Spokane)
• 2003 First T.j. recovery Anaphes releases
• 2004 First Anaphes recoveries. Have 6
  insectaries.
• 2005 8 insectaries, excellent T.j. recovery,
  limited Anaphes recovery at 3 locations.

27

• 2006
• CLB became obvious in wetter dryland areas
• Stevens, Spokane, Whitman, Columbia, Walla Walla
• Have 10 insectaries
• Older insectaries imploding
• Excellent T. julis spread to farms
• Redistributed our own T.j. to other insectaries
• No Anaphes recovery

Picture by Kit Cutler
28
T. julis pre-release recovery at Washington field
insectaries 2004 - 2006
29
2006 T. julis parasitism for eastern WA farms
pooled by location
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
My big question from last year

• What level of T. julis parasitism is needed in
  farm fields to obviate spraying?
• What we know
• CLB females lay about 200 eggs each
• Each parasitized CLB releases 5 T. julis wasps
  (2005 WA data)

Picture by Garrett Clevenger
CLB larva parasitized by T. julis
33
Making farm spray recommendations

• When field has infestation economic threshold and
  T. julis present
• 50 parasitism
• 25 CLB females ? 5,000 eggs
• Vs. 50x5250 Tj
• Next season 200 CLB1 Tj wasp
• Tough call recommend spray affected
  areas/borders monitor
• 75 parasitism
• 13 CLB females ? 2,600 eggs
• Vs. 75x5 375 Tj
• Next season 7 CLB 1 Tj wasp
• Recommend not spray most of damage done
• gt90 parasitism
• 5 CLB females ? 1,000 eggs
• Vs. 90x5 450 Tj
• Next season 2CLB1 Tj wasp
• Recommend not spray

34
Parasitism of the cereal leaf beetle. In press.
E. Evans et al. Utah State University.
35
2006 T.julis parasitism levels at WA insectaries
plotted against time
Nine Mile Falls (Significant)
Deep Creek (significant)
Colville (NS)
Peone Prairie (NS)
36
Insecticides tested in 2006

• Untreated check
• Warrior/pyrethroid - standard
• Success/spinosad - larvicide - (Dow, product
  selective for CLB)
• Beleaf/flonicamid prevents insect feeding -
  (FMC, product selective for aphids)
• Fulfill/pymetrozine - acts on ingestions and
  contact - (Syngenta, product selective for
  aphids).
• The latter two are not currently registered on
  small grains the work here is to confirm that
  the products are non-toxic to CLB parasitoids, as
  a first step in justifying label expansion.

37
Biocontrol Success in WA

• Will depend on
• Ability of biocontrols to establish
• Ability to increase insectaries across region
• Continued funding
• Cooperation among agencies and farmers
• Short term fixes (spraying insecticides,
  including for aphids) will adversely affect
  biocontrols
• Recommend buffer strips, increase each year
• Direct seeding beneficial to larval parasitoid

My job
Your job!
38
Plans for 2007

• Extend into Yakima, Kittitas Counties
• Timothy is sold on looks?
• Retest soft insecticides

Kit Cutler Nine Mile Falls

• Phase out older insectaries
• Nine Mile Falls
• Colville
• Peone Prairie

• Work with growers to plant oats as a trap
  crop/modified insectary
• Between winter spring wheat

Rick, Richard, Gary Seitters - Colville
39
Funding partners
40
Lacey Jones 05, 06
Kathlene Peck 05
Thank you!
Laurie Stone 04
Also Mike Gould 03 Sally Hubbs 06
Moose Sanders 06
41

• If you want to save money on CLB management in
  the long term
• You will need to withstand a certain amount of
  white leaves
• Short term fixes (spraying insecticides,
  including for aphids) will adversely affect
  biocontrols
• If you spray, use buffer strips and
  increase each year
• Direct seeding beneficial to larval
  parasitoid
• Please call me when you find CLB in
  your fields!!

Picture by John Aeschliman
42
Questions?

• Contact
• Diana Roberts
• WSU Extension
• 509-477-2167
• robertsd_at_wsu.edu
• Website http//www.spokane-county.wsu.edu/