Rufus Isaacs...Harvest of grapes and fall raspberries is underway, and it's time to be thinking about multicolored Asian lady beetles (MALB). The multicolored Asian lady beetles has become a pest of fall-harvested fruit crops because it seeks the sugary juice and tight spaces found in ripe berries, causing contamination of ripe fruit. If crushed, the beetles can release defensive secretions, tainting juice and wine.

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Amy Irish-Brown...By all standards, 2009 has not had the weather conditions that we usually think of that would drive European red mite populations to the levels we are seeing in some blocks around the Grand Rapids area. It’s been mostly cool with some very heavy rainfall events – not hot and dry, which typically favors mites.

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John Wise...We will be having a research field day at the Trevor Nichols Research Complex on Wednesday, September 22 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. The field day will focus on insect and disease research and efficacy trials that were carried out this season by Larry Gut, Rufus Isaacs, Annemiek Schilder, George Sundin, Mark Whalon and John Wise. TNRC is located at 6237 124th Ave. in Fennville, Michigan.

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By John Wise, David Epstein, Larry Gut and Luís Teixeira...Apple maggots overwinter as pupae and are developmentally ready to emerge as adults in early summer (900 growing degree days base 50). Adult fly emergence is often delayed, however, if soils are dry, peak emergence generally occurs between 1400 and 1700 growing degree days but is highly dependent on site-specific weather conditions.

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By Rufus Isaacs and John Wise...Adult emergence of the blueberry maggot has already begun over much of the blueberry production region of Michigan. For most blueberry growers, who either have resident populations in their fields or grow in proximity to abandoned or wild blueberry plants, the focus for this point on through harvest is to protect their fruit from infestation. Control of blueberry maggot has been achieved for many years using broad spectrum insecticides. These kill the adult fly on contact and prevent the insect surviving to the point of being able to lay eggs into the fruit. Guthion is highly active against blueberry maggot with long residual activity and has a seven day pre-harvest interval.

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By Luís Teixeira, John Wise, Nikki Rothwell, David Epstein, Larry Gut and Erin Lizotte... Cherry fruit fly overwinter as pupae and are developmentally ready to emerge as adults in late spring. Adult fly emergence depends on soil heat accumulation. Peak emergence is highly dependent on site-specific weather conditions. Much of the Michigan fruit growing region has had above normal precipitation and relatively low temperatures over the growing season, so cherry fruit fly emergence is proceeding slower than normal this year.

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By Rufus Isaacs and John Wise... Japanese beetles have only one generation per year, but these beetles emerge over a long period from late June through August and can live for over 30 days. They feed on the foliage and fruit of various fruit crops grown in Michigan, causing damage to the plant and increasing the risk of fungal diseases.

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By Larry Gut, David Epstein, and John Wise...The increased availability of several excellent leafroller control materials in the past several years has resulted in reduced obliquebanded leafroller pressure in Michigan apple orchards. Early season use of Rimon and Proclaim for codling moth control in 2007-2008 provided excellent leafroller control.

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By Nikki Rothwell and John Wise... Last season, we reported high levels of two-spotted spider mites (TSSM) and European red mites (ERM) in cherry and apple orchards around the state. Because of their late appearance, we predicted that these mites would not cause economic injury last season. However, our main concern was how these late-season mite populations would impact the 2009 production season.

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By David Mota-Sanchez and John Wise... To use the Resistance Management Insecticide Compatibility chart, find the cell that intersects the row and column from two compounds of interest.

The shaded code in the intersecting cell represents the compatibility of the two compounds for generational rotation.* (For example, if you plan to use Imidan for first generation codling moth, to check the compatibility of using Warrior for second generation you will follow the column of cells down from Imidan until you reach the
cell in the row directly across from Warrior.

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Larry Gut,  David Epstein, Peter McGhee, John Wise...Putting together a sound codling moth (CM) pest management program requires that the practitioner understand several decision-making criteria: moth population pressure as measured with pheromone-baited traps in each farm block, the relative effectiveness of the control tactics available, the mode of action (how they work) of the various options, the lifestages each is active on, the optimum time to apply them, and what other pests are controlled if the product is applied at that time.

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Larry Gut Entomology; David Epstein, MSU IPM Program; and Peter McGhee, Entomology...The use of moth catches in pheromone traps for timing insecticide applications and assessing pest pressure is fundamental to orchard scouting and integrated pest management. Many factors affect the performance of trapping systems, and the usefulness of the information gathered. These factors are trap selection, trap placement and seasonal maintenance. Ignoring any one of these fundamentals will reduce the reliability of the whole trapping system.

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By David Epstein, Larry Gut and Amy Irish-Brown...Information for this article was obtained from research at Washington State University, where mullein bug has been noted as a pest of apple and pear since the 1970's.

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By John Wise, Nikki Rothwell, David Epstein, Larry Gut and Mark Whalon... The plum curculio is an important early season pest on pome and stone fruits. There is an array of insecticides available for control of the plum curculio, but their performance characteristics vary greatly compared to our traditional broad-spectrum chemistries. These conventional insecticides, such as organophosphates and pyrethroids, work primarily as lethal contact poisons on plum curculio adults in the tree canopy.

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By Fred Warner and Angela Tenney... The Chinese calendar depicts 12 animals; this is the year of the ox. The calendar shows, a bird (rooster), two reptiles (dragon and snake) and nine mammals. Nematodes, as well as all invertebrates, were excluded. However, based on the results of soil samples submitted to date to Diagnostic Services, 2009 may be the year of the dagger nematode.

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By Luis Teixeira and Larry Gut... Peachtree borer, lesser peachtree borer, dogwood borer and American plum borer are key indirect insect pests of cherry, apple and peach, in Michigan and other fruit growing regions in the eastern United States.

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By John Wise, Rufus Isaacs and Larry Gut... Mites can be significant pests of fruit crops. There is an array of miticides available for control of the European red mite (ERM), two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) and rust mites (RM) (apple and pear rust mites, pear blister mite, plum nursery mite, blueberry bud mite), but their performance characteristics are not all alike.

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By Rufus Isaacss... Two important insect pests of grapevines become active around the time of bud swell, and both have the potential to cause damage to early growth if populations are high. Warm weather has brought bud swell to southwest Michigan vineyards in the past week.

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By Fred Warner... Many things need to be considered when establishing or replanting an orchard or vineyard, but the impact of plant-parasitic nematodes should not be ignored. Feeding by many species of nematodes will produce unthrifty trees and subsequent yield reductions.

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By Peter McGhee, David Epstein and Larry Gut... Starting in 2004, Michigan apple growers have been successfully implementing whole-farm, or areawide, codling moth management that uses pheromone-based mating disruption as the centerpiece of their control programs. This novel technology controls codling moth by interfering with the normal mating process and thus curtailing the production of offspring.

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By Fred Warner... Daggers are typically defined as short, pointed weapons. However, the daggers referred to in this article are nematodes, Xiphinema sp. These nematodes should be of concern to tree and small fruit producers because they are potential vectors of plant viruses known as nepo (nematode transmitted polyhedral-shaped) viruses. Nepoviruses commonly vectored by X.

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By Fred Warner... Many things need to be considered when establishing or replanting an orchard or vineyard, but the impact of plant-parasitic nematodes should not be ignored. Feeding by many species of nematodes will produce unthrifty trees and subsequent yield reductions.

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By Larry Gut, James Miller, Peter McGhee, David Epstein and Lukasz Stelinski... Many fruit growers are making pheromone-based mating disruption the foundation of their pest management programs. An estimated 500,000 acres worldwide, including nearly 175,000 acres in North America, are treated with pheromone to control codling moth.

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David Epstein, Larry Gut, John Wise, and Nikki Rothwell...
Codling moth
Another cool spring season in 2008 provided us with a good lesson in how variable codling moth catches can be from one farm to another, and from one block to another on the same farm. This is not surprising considering that the extent of early season codling moth activity in an orchard is typically associated with how well the pest was controlled in the previous season. The lowest levels of codling moth pressure were consistently recorded in orchards that have been using pheromone-based mating disruption for several years.

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Rufus Isaacs and John Wise...The blueberry maggot goes through one generation per year, over-wintering as a pupa below the soil surface. Most pupae emerge one year after going into the soil, though depending on climatic conditions a small proportion will remain as pupae through another year or two before emerging. Adult emergence typically begins in mid- to late June with adult flight continuing through August.

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John Wise, Nikki Rothwell, David Epstein, Larry Gut and Luís Teixeira...Cherry fruit fly overwinter as pupae and are developmentally ready to emerge as adults in late spring. Adult fly emergence depends on soil heat accumulation. Peak emergence is highly dependent on site-specific weather conditions. Much of the Michigan fruit growing region has had above normal precipitation and relatively low temperature over the growing season, so cherry fruit fly emergence is proceeding slower than normal this year.

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John Wise, David Epstein, Larry Gut and Luís Teixeira...Apple maggot overwinter as pupae and are developmentally ready to emerge as adults in early summer (900 growing degree-days base 50). Adult fly emergence is often delayed however, if soils are dry. Peak emergence generally occurs between 1400 and 1700 growing degree-days, but is highly dependent on site-specific weather conditions. Much of the Michigan fruit growing region has had above normal precipitation over the last two to three weeks, so apple maggot emergence will likely be unimpeded in these remaining weeks of July.

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By Nikki Rothwell, Erin Lizotte, John Wise and David Epstein... In 2007, we observed large populations of San Jose scale on sweet cherries in the northwest, and now they are showing up on tree fruit across the state.

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By Rufus Isaacs... The warm weather over the past few weeks has brought out one of the earliest scarab beetles we find in Michigan blueberry fields. This species is a Hoplia flower beetle (Hoplia trifasciata) and the adults feed on young buds and can also feed on flowers.

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By Rufus Isaacs and John Wise... In the past few years, the grape industry has received registration of many new insecticides. This is good news for grape growers who must maintain insects below economic injury levels in a time of increasing restrictions on conventional insecticides.

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Nikki Rothwell, John Wise and David Epstein...We have observed large populations of San Jose scale on sweet cherries in the northwest, but these pests are showing up on tree fruit across the state. Sweet cherries are considered hosts of these introduced pests, but more commonly, we see San Jose scale in apple, peach, pear and plum. Scales are unusual insects with a very unique life cycle that makes them difficult to control. Adult females live underneath a waxy, turtle-like covering, giving birth to live young rather than lay eggs—these nymphs are the crawler stage of the life cycle.

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Rufus Isaacs...New shoots with leaves that turn brown from the tip end have been increasingly evident in the past few weeks. This may be evidence of blueberry tip borer (Hendecaneura shawiana), a sporadic insect pest whose damage symptoms become increasingly evident in late July. This insect is a species of tortricid moth, and fruitworm management programs after bloom usually keep this pest in check.

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John Wise, David Epstein, Larry Gut and Luís Teixeira...Apple maggots overwinter as pupae and are developmentally ready to emerge as adults in early summer (900 growing degree-days base 50). Adult fly emergence is often delayed, however, if soils are dry. Peak emergence generally occurs between 1400 and 1700 growing degree-days, but is highly dependent on site-specific weather conditions. Much of the Lake Michigan shoreline fruit growing region has been very dry over the last three to four weeks, so apple maggot emergence will likely be delayed until there is significant precipitation. Inland portions of the state that have received more rain are likely to see comparatively higher adult emergence during the early segment of the apple maggot flight.

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Rufus Isaacs, John Wise and David Epstein...Japanese beetles have only one generation per year, but these beetles emerge over a long period in July and August, and they live for over 30 days. They feed on the foliage and fruit of various fruit crops grown in Michigan, causing damage to the plant and increasing the risk of fungal disease in fruit. Their emergence during mid-summer can also result in their presence during harvest, creating a risk of contamination. They are also highly mobile insects and can fly into fields from surrounding areas. This article provides information on insecticide options based on tests over the past few years conducted at the Trevor Nichols Research Complex and at grower’s farms.

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Luis Teixeira and Rufus Isaacs...The blueberry maggot is a key pest of blueberries because infestation of fruit by the larvae of blueberry maggot makes it unmarketable. Management of this insect, whether organically or conventionally, depends on monitoring and appropriate reaction to trapping of flies. Organic growers may be more likely to engage in cultural controls to disrupt the life cycle, but the goal is the same – to prevent berries from becoming infested. This article reviews the currently available organic management options against blueberry maggot.

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Rufus Isaacs & John Wise...Effective control of grape berry moth with the currently available insecticides leaves less room for error in both timing and coverage than was possible in the past. This is because the remaining products either have shorter duration of residual control, or they are specific to fewer life stages of the pest than the broad-spectrum insecticides that had vapor action. Maintaining control of grape berry moth requires a combination of good timing, high insecticide activity and excellent cluster coverage. Our ongoing research addresses each of these components of berry moth IPM, and this update will cover them in turn.

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Rufus Isaacs...Recent vineyard scouting at our research sites around the Lawton area has shown an increase in berry moths being caught in traps (last week and this week), and there has been an increase in egglaying by this pest on clusters over the five days.

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John Wise, Rufus Isaacs and Larry Gut...Mites can be significant pests of fruit crops. There is an array of miticides available for control of the European red mite (ERM), two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) and rust mites (RM) – apple and pear rust mites, pear blister mite, plum nursery mite, blueberry bud mite, but their performance characteristics are not all alike.

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Rufus Isaacs...The third week of July is a critical time to scout vineyards for the effectiveness of post-bloom insecticides and to decide whether another insecticide application is needed. For vineyards where grape berry moth is usually a problem late in the season, and particularly where the crop was heavily infested with berry moth last year, this middle-season generation will require management to keep the population under control.

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John Wise and Rufus Isaacs...The blueberry maggot goes through one generation per year, overwintering as a pupa below the soil surface. Most pupae emerge one year after going into the soil, although depending on climatic conditions, a small proportion will remain as pupae through another year or two before emerging. Adult emergence typically begins in mid to late June with adult flight continuing through August.

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John Wise, David Epstein and Larry Gut...Apple maggots overwinter as pupae and are developmentally ready to emerge as adults in early summer (900 growing degree-days base 50). Adult fly emergence is often delayed, however, if soils are dry. Peak emergence generally occurs between 1400 and 1700 growing degree-days, but is highly dependent on site-specific weather conditions. The precipitation patterns we have experienced this June across most parts of the state will likely result in adult emergence as soon as GDD requirements are met.

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Larry Gut, John Wise and David Epstein...This past week marked the beginning of the first of two flight periods of adult obliquebanded leafroller in Michigan. The first flight typically begins in mid-June and lasts about six weeks. The second flight takes place from early August to mid-September. Obliquebanded leafroller flight can be tracked through the season using pheromone-baited traps.

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Nikki Rothwell, Larry Gut and Luis Teixeira...Although there are three potential picture-winged flies that attack cherries in Michigan, the cherry fruit fly is the main culprit in most areas of the state. This species has been found in cultivated tart and sweet cherries as well as in the wild host – wild black cherry. Black cherry fruit flies also show up as pests in managed blocks of tart and sweet cherry, especially in southwest Michigan. In the wild, they are found predominantly in pin cherry. From a control standpoint, these two species of fruit fly are often considered one pest and managed identically.

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John Wise, Rufus Isaacs and Larry Gut...Mites can be significant pests of fruit crops. There is an array of miticides available for control of the European red mite (ERM), two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) and rust mites (RM) – apple and pear rust mites, pear blister mite, plum nursery mite, blueberry bud mite, but their performance characteristics are not all alike.

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Rufus Isaacs...Grape berry moths have been trapped in vineyards across southwest Michigan over the past three weeks. These male moths in traps indicate that the overwintering generation of this pest has started to emerge, but no egglaying has been detected yet and eggs are not expected until the primary buds begin blooming. This year, as growers aim to trim costs, it will be important to focus insecticides where they are needed most. As part of our research to improve control of this pest, we are working with researchers in New York and Pennsylvania to develop a degree day model to predict important events in the life cycle of grape berry moth.

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Larry Gut, David Epstein and John Wise...Obliquebanded leafroller (OBLR) overwinter in the orchard as immature larvae and begin feeding inside bud clusters prior to bloom and on young fruit in May and June. (see photo) Fruit that do not abort can be deeply scarred and deformed by OBLR feeding. Scouts can monitor overwintering survivors in terminals after petal fall, but signs of leafroller activity often are more readily visible than the actual larva. The name leafroller comes from the larva’s habit of rolling leaves to form a shelter. These feeding sites are most often found at the tips of growing shoots.

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Larry Gut, Peter McGhee and David Epstein...The use of moth catches in pheromone traps for timing insecticide applications and assessing pest pressure is fundamental to orchard scouting and integrated pest management. Many factors affect the performance of trapping systems and the usefulness of the information gathered. These factors are trap selection, trap placement and seasonal maintenance. Ignoring any one of these fundamentals will reduce the reliability of the whole trapping system.

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John Wise and Larry Gut...
Correction on Proclaim label description
We published a short article last week describing the new Proclaim 5SG pome fruit label.

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John Wise and Larry Gut...
Kethane manufacturing phase-out
(Brian Olson, Dow AgroSciences, LLC; edited by John Wise)
Dow AgroSciences has decided to initiate a voluntary phase out and global exit of the Kelthane ® miticide business. Kelthane (dicofol) is a non-systemic, organochlorine miticide (acaricide) that has been used for almost 50 years to control mite pests in United States fruit crops such as apples, grapes and various other specialty crops. However, the United States and global market for Kelthane has been experiencing a steady decline for several years as many new mitcide products and other technologies have been introduced.

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