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THE EFFECT OF SHOOLY LARVAE ( DIPTERA ) ON GRASS YIELD
Author(s) -
Mowat D. J.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1974.tb01264.x
Subject(s) - larva , biology , seedling , shoot , population , agronomy , yield (engineering) , fly larvae , horticulture , zoology , botany , demography , materials science , sociology , metallurgy
Elimination of shooly larvae increased grass yields daring the September feeding period. Increases were usually less than 10% bat in one case, where growth was abnormally slow, die increase was over 30% and in another, where the larval population was atypically dense, it was almost 60%. The effects of damage were not cumulative daring the feeding period; and at the end of this period insecticidreated plots sometimes gave lower yields than untreated plots. Fertilizer increases had a much greater effect on yield than did control of larvae and, where N was applied at 75 kg/ha (67 lb/ac) in spring, the additional effect of larval control was usually negligible. It is suggested that shoot‐fly damage may be more serious in other localities. When turf containing shoot‐fly larvae was ploughed, Oscinella spp. re‐established themselves more successfully than others in seedling ryegrass bat did not damage the new sward appreciably.