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Four questions that will help with your approach to flea beetle scouting and risk assessment…
Flea beetle
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Cutworm feeding results in notched, wilted, dead or cut-off plants. Patches of missing plants could also be cutworms. Include cutworms on the scouting checklist for the first one to three weeks after emergence… -
Jim Tansey and Keith Gabert talk about flea beetles – including how far they travel to find the first canola crops, major differences between striped and crucifer species, and how long the risk can last…
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Striped flea beetles tend to emerge earlier than crucifer flea beetles, and some are already feeding on canola volunteers. Are first-emerging crops at higher risk?… -
As predicted by moth traps, the Peace region has fields at thresholds. Beyond there, a few field here and there across the Prairies have been sprayed but the worm is not a problem on most fields… -
The flea beetle situation seems worse than usual. The simplest reason seems the most logical: Warm and dry weather favours flea beetle emergence and activity. The same dry weather slows crop growth, leaving plants at a vulnerable small size for longer… -
While only a small percentage of canola fields tend to require foliar insecticides to manage flea beetles in addition to seed treatment, all fields should be monitored to assess the potential threat. Begin monitoring right after emergence and through until at least the four-leaf stage…
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Flea beetles feeding on canola leaves and pods are unlikely to cause an economic loss. Numbers have to be very high – perhaps 100 per plant – before economic losses occur…
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If the tissue underneath the bite is still living, the seedling will likely survive as long as (1) the stem can still bear the weight of the cotyledons and first leaves, (2) the stem is not to subjected to more feeding, and (3) weather conditions are good for plant growth…
