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Field observations on the control of blossom beetles ( Meligethes aeneus F.) and cabbage‐seed weevils ( Ceuthorhynchus assimilis Payk.) on mustard‐seed crops in East Anglia
Author(s) -
WINFIELD A. L.
Publication year - 1961
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1961.tb03648.x
Subject(s) - biology , weevil , brassica , infestation , larva , agronomy , population , horticulture , toxicology , botany , demography , sociology
SUMMARY Field trials on the control of blossom beetles ( Meligethes aeneus F.), and cabbageseed weevils ( Ceuthorhynchus assimilis Payk.) were carried out in East Anglia during 1958 and 1959, and twenty‐six commercial crops of Trowse mustard ( Brassica juncea Coss) were surveyed during the summer of 1959. The development of a Trowse mustard plant, and damage by adult and larval blossom beetles are described. Methods for assessing the damage done by both blossom beetles and seed weevils are discussed, and a preliminary attempt has been made to differentiate the effects of the two pests on the yields of seed. It has been confirmed that DDT is unsatisfactory for the control of seed weevils; two carefully timed applications of dieldrin will probably give an economic control of both blossom beetles and seed weevils. Spraying usually gave increased yields of seed, sufficient to cover the cost of treatment, but a single spray was not persistent enough to give a good control of the damage by adult and larval blossom beetles, and at the same time to control the damage by seed weevil larvae. A single spray applied during May, when the population of adult blossom beetles was rising, did not prevent later adults or larvae from causing damage. A single spray applied shortly before flowering began allowed the early immigrant adults to cause damage but gave some control of the larvae. The infestation of pods by seed weevil larvae was best controlled by a spray during the early‐flowering period. Because of the risk of harming bees and other beneficial insects it is unlikely that a spray during the blossom period could at present be recommended as a routine for all mustard crops.