Biological control research activities we contribute towards (1999-2023)

We just pulled together a quick summary of the various biological control activities our program has contributed towards...

AAFC-STB-Alberta-Beaverlodge Research Farm (Jennifer.Otani@agr.gc.ca) – The Pest Management program is active in annual and perennial field crops grown in the Alberta and BC portions of the Peace River region (i.e., 55-59 degrees North by 117-120 degrees West). 

Historical projects include parasitoids/parasitism of Lygus spp. by Peristenus, Phasia aeneoventris; Delia spp. larvae in canola by Aleochora bilineata; coccinellid larvae by Oomyzus scaposus; cutworms in annuals and perennials grown for seed Apamea devastator, A. amputatrix, Nephelodes minians, Euxoa auxiliaris, Actebia fennica and more by various parasitoids and viruses; Coleophora deauratella and C. mayrella by Chelonus spp., Neochrysocharis formosa now placed in genus Omphale; Thymelicus lineola with zero observed parasitism over multiple years, Tychius meliloti, T. picirostris, T. stephensii with zero observed parasitism over multiple years, Hypera nigrirostris by Scambus hispae (tentative), Bathyplectes curculionis, B. exiguus; Sitodiplosis mosellana by Macroglenes penetrans, Platygaster sp., Inostemma walkeri. 

Currently, the program supports R. DeClerck-Floate (AAFC-Lethbridge) with a release and post-release data collection on common toadflax near Grande Cache AB in 2022 plus we are following-up in 2024 by (i) confirming Oulema melanpus at larval feeding sites reported in 2023 in the Peace River region, and (ii) attempting to confirm larval parasitism levels. 

Biological control topics relevant to the region needing support for the future include wheat midge parasitism, cereal leaf beetle parasitism, seed-feeding clover weevil parasitism, red clover casebearer parasitism, European skipper parasitism, plus the control of common toadflax, oxeye daisy, Canada thistle and kochia. 

Thank you to Dr. O. Lonsdale (AAFC-Ottawa) who coordinates NIS submissions and to the many taxonomists who have helped us over the years!

Fall field scouting in grasses grown for seed

Last week, a call related to damaged creeping red fescue growing near Bear Canyon triggered a conversation of things to keep in mind when heading out to scout grass fields in the Fall:

Several species of insects utilize grasses grown for seed. Compared to annual crops, perennial grasses grown for seed are typically left in production for 2-3 years (and even longer) so the soil profile is disturbed less frequently when it comes to tillage and seeding. The soil profile stability offers a unique habitat to soil-dwelling organisms. Cutworms, webworms, wireworms, and many species of beetles are just a handful of insect groups that can be found in grass seed production systems and spend large portions of their lifecycle below ground. Even though pest species can be present, natural enemies and pollinator species also inhabit grass fields grown for seed. 

More in-depth scouting information can be reviewed in the Alberta Forage Manual. This resource includes two sections describing (i) pest and (ii) beneficial species of arthropods typically present in western Canadian grass seed production systems. Download a searchable PDF copy.

Learn when and where to look in the field by reviewing these cutworm scouting tips published by the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network. The PPMN has multiple cutworm-related posts archived from the past  growing seasons and you can review that list here.

If you find insect larvae, determine if it has legs, where the legs are positioned and how many legs are visible. This step helps determine if it's a cutworm, fly larva, or beetle larva. Use Figure 1 below and note how many pairs of legs and where those legs are positioned. 

Figure 1. Picture key to identifying insect larvae copied from ENTFACT-017: Recognizing Insect Larval Types by Lee Townsend, Extension Entomologist, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service.   https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef017

Estimate length of the larva. In the fall, all larvae can be very small and exceedingly difficult to find.  In fact, easily encountering larvae in the fall may mean a high density of overwintering individuals are present so live specimens should be examined by an expert. Mark areas of the field where larvae are present in fall. Additionally, prioritize the field for spring field scouting weekly through April, May and June! 

When it comes to cutworms, review this excellent Cutworm Field Guide. This resource is a searchable PDF guide to all things cutworms including descriptions and photos of different cutworm larvae, host-crop associations, and scouting tips.

Permission to Access Land by AAFC's Pest Management Staff

As of 2023, Agriculture and Agri--Food Canada requires staff members to obtain signed Permission to Access from landowners. Even if verbal permission is provided, staff members are accompanied, or urgent risk is involved, AAFC staff are required by our managers to first obtain a signed form before entering a field. The following is intended to help obtain signed forms in a timely manner to support ongoing IPM research across the Peace River region.  

Our IPM program appreciates your efforts to help US help you!

• Step 1: Make a list of Legal Land Descriptions of fields our staff are allowed to access. 
• Step 2: Download the PDF copy of the blank permission form here.
• Step 3: Fill in form and save it. Please be sure to initial AND sign the form. 
• Step 4: Please email the signed form to jennifer.otani@agr.gc.ca  
• Step 5: Please watch for follow-up email messages. Our staff needs to confirm your  contact number so we can provide updates to you. Cell numbers able to receive text messages are ideal! 

Concerned about field sanitation protocols?  So are we!  For several years, read what we've been doing when it comes to protecting the health of our region's fields! 

Need help to complete, want to send using a fax machine, OR have questions? Send a message to jennifer.otani@agr.gc.ca then watch your Inbox. 

Questions related to completing this form to support ongoing research projects conducted by our program can be directed to jennifer.otani@agr.gc.ca .

Queries or comments about AAFC's Land Access Permission policy, form content, or Branch-wide implementation as it pertains to Beaverlodge Research Farm staff can be directed to the Associate Director, Lacombe Research and Development Centre / Beaverlodge Research Farm who currently is mueen.aslam@agr.gc.ca

Field Heroes' PEST and PREDATOR PODCASTS

 The Field Heroes campaign continues to raise awareness of the role of beneficial insects in western Canadian crops. 

Real Agriculture went live with the Pest & Predators podcast series starting in 2020 and Season 4 of the popular series will be out in 2024! Review the various podcasts Jennifer Otani has recorded: 

Season 1, Episode 1: Do you know your field heroes? Jennifer Otani (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada-Beaverlodge) and Shaun Haney (RealAg). Published online May 12, 2020. 

Season 2, Episode 9: Secret agents in the stubble. Jennifer Otani (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada-Beaverlodge) and Shaun Haney (RealAg). Published online May 18, 2021. 

Season 3, Episode 18: Preying in the canola canopy. Jennifer Otani (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada-Beaverlodge) and Shaun Haney (RealAg). Published online June 29, 2022. 

Season 4 will be released in 2024 growing season!

End of Summer Goodbyes

 

I always find my way back to the Beaverlodge Insect Pest Management (IPM) lab with four summers and one winter under my belt. It is bittersweet to have this summer conclude so fast after working consecutively in the IPM lab for close to a year and a half, but I will be returning to school in the fall to pursue a second degree in sustainable agriculture. I keep coming back because I enjoy the mix of field and lab work. Every year, there is always something new for me to learn and challenge myself with. As a bonus, the IPM staff are also wonderful people to work with, which makes the time fly!

Figure 1. Sweeping the BC Peace on a sunny day makes for the best day!

As always, our annual canola survey was one of my favourite memories from this summer this year. The week was filled with beautiful weather and fieldwork everyday, completing grasshopper density assessment counts, canola and grasshopper sweeps, and stubble assessments at multiple canola sites throughout the Peace River region. A special thanks to all of the farmers who allowed us to monitor their fields which allowed us to have a successful survey.

During canola survey, I enjoyed picking up a fresh (delicious) cinnamon bun from Eaglesham as well as a lunch break in Valhalla! The food stops make for a good day of surveying. This summer I volunteered to make us team t-shirts for the canola survey (maybe regretfully at t-shirt 3/8). Thanks to Shelby’s amazingly creative mind in coming up with a logo we were able to make what I would argue, are some pretty styling t-shirts. Our pin-flag pink shirts worked great for spotting and identifying us in the canola fields! Visibility keeps us safe while we are out conducting fieldwork.

Figure 2. Our IPM team this year, sporting our safety-pink Hulk lygus shirts. The shirt says, “you’re not going to lygus when were angry,” and a lygus insect depicted holding a sweep net.

I also enjoyed completing weekly canola monitoring for our Prairie Pest Monitoring Network. I always love watching how quickly the canola starts to grow once it bolts and being able to follow the same fields over the whole growing season. Following the same fields allows us to see different fluctuations in insect populations and biodiversity over each week and between geographic areas.

Figure 3. Completing our weekly PPMN canola monitoring; collecting a yellow flea beetle sticky card.

It was interesting to participate and assist in building data for the 2023 Living Lab AB-Beef project as well. I have been lucky enough to work with my father and our family farm in retrieving precision agriculture data for this project. It was a good challenge (and treasure hunt) for me to figure out how to compile 10 years of data into an accessible format, as well as educate myself more on precision agriculture and its ever-changing goals. I am excited to see how it develop over the next 5 years and the outputs farmers will receive.

Figure 4.  An alfalfa looper on a budding canola plant near Valhalla Centre during our 2023 Canola Survey.

I am always and forever grateful for the opportunities and growth I have had at the IPM lab in Beaverlodge. As someone told me years ago: you can't come back if you never leave! 'Till next time!

Author: Aarika Harpe

End of summer goodbyes

Well! I guess it’s time to say goodbye, this summer sure did fly by!

My name is Madysen Jones and once my work term ends, I will be heading back to Edmonton to finish up my studies at the University of Alberta. I am currently studying psychology in a Bachelor of Arts program.

This was my second summer working with the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Over the last 4 months, I worked mostly with the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network project. This included setting out traps for diamondback moth, flea beetle, bertha armyworm, and swede midge along the field edges at commercial canola fields. We collected and redeployed our traps weekly, bringing samples back to the lab to process and identify. Once processed, the data is entered and utilized to help growers make important decisions about their fields.

Figure 1. One of our 2023 PPMN traplines featuring a diamondback moth trap along the edge of a commercial canola field. Photo credit: Maddy Jones AAFC-Beaverlodge.

Additionally, I was able to help with our new 2023 Living Labs AB-Beef project. For this project, we installed greenhouse gas chambers into the soil and collecting greenhouse gas samples weekly. Periodically, we changed out PRS® probes and take soil samples to compare with greenhouse gas readings. I enjoyed learning about this new project and am excited to see how it progresses over the next few years!

Figure 2. Maddy Jones and Gareth Larsen installing a greenhouse gas chamber for the 2023 Living Labs AB-Beef project. Photo credit: Aarika Harpe AAFC-Beaverlodge. 

Figure 3. Maddy Jones collecting a gas sample while technician Amanda Jorgensen labels and prepares the vials for the 2023 Living Labs AB-Beef project. Photo credit: Shelby Dufton AAFC-Beaverlodge.

When I am not working out in the field or processing samples from our 2023 Prairie Pest monitoring or 2023 Living Lab AB-Beef you can find me in the lab creating labels for carabid beetle voucher (also called ground beetles) collected between 2002 and 2023 for multiple projects. These specimens were identified by one of our technicians, Shelby Dufton, and help give us important information about how the biodiversity and activity-density of this important group of natural enemies has changed over the last 20 years in the Peace River region.

Figure 4: Carabid beetle vouchers. Photo credit: Maddy Jones AAFC-Beaverlodge.

My favourite part of every summer working with IPM is always the fieldwork. Our annual canola survey is a time where we get to do a lot of fieldwork, we spend a week or more traveling around the Peace River region collecting sweep-net samples to monitor for insects such as Lygus and the cabbage seed pod weevil. This summer our canola survey looked a little different than previous years, we required permission to enter prior to monitoring, but that did not stop us from completing another successful survey.

Figure 5: Maddy Jones sweeping a field near Girouxville during the 2023 Canola Survey. Photo credit: Aarika Harpe AAFC-Beaverlodge.

I enjoyed working with IPM for another summer and will take all that I have learned back with me to University in Edmonton. This position has inspired me to take my first entomology course and I am excited to continue to grow my knowledge of insects! Wish me luck! 

Author: Madysen Jones

End of Summer Goodbyes

 Hi! My name is Jadeyn, and I am a fourth year undergraduate student at The King’s University, majoring in Chemistry. As autumn approaches I am preparing to leave the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program at the Beaverlodge Research Farm to return to my studies. 

Over the summer I have gained a broad range of knowledge and skills I can apply to my studies, future career, and agricultural understanding of the region I grew up in. Working in a lab environment and contributing to scientific projects has been a remarkable opportunity. I am excited to exercise in my schooling what I have learned about research, laboratory management, field work and data organization.

Figure 1. Processing flea beetle and diamondback moth sticky cards collected at commercial sites throughout the Peace River region as part of the 2023 Prairie Pest Monitoring project. 

 A highlight of my work experience was performing weekly field work and monitoring for insect pests in local canola fields for the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network. We collected flea beetle, diamondback moth, swede midge, and bertha armyworm traps at various sites, processed our findings, and recorded data. We also collected sweep-net samples in the field (biodiversity) and the ditch (grasshoppers). Sunny days spent collecting traps and sweep-net samples was a highly anticipated work day!

Figure 2a. A canola field monitored during the 2023 Annual Peace Canola Survey in Fort Vermillion, AB. b. A canola sweep-net sample being processed and organized into different taxonomic groups. 

Another highlight of my experience working in the Beaverlodge IPM lab was participating in the 2023 Annual Peace Canola Survey! Canola fields all across the northern Peace Region were monitored for Lygus beetles and cabbage seed pod weevils. We additionally surveyed grasshopper populations in ditches adjacent to these fields. I was able to travel to Fort Vermillion and collect samples from Northern Alberta. Between driving and collecting survey samples, I rode the La Crete ferry for the first time and got delicious strawberry butter horns at a La Crete bakery. After surveying, the IPM team returned to the lab to process the sweep-net samples. Samples were organized into petri dishes and identified to species to assess biodiversity and Lygus populations. 

My favourite aspect of working in the IPM lab is the variety of work. I got to try and learn new things I’ve never done before. The contrast of working outdoors, doing field work, and working indoors; processing samples and operating excel in the lab, offered diversity that kept my daily tasks engaging.

 Overall my student summer work experience was very positive, with interesting content, and welcoming staff. I am extremely grateful to have gained a new appreciation for entomology in the Peace River region and an opportunity to acquire hands-on experience in a scientific field that was previously unfamiliar. Lots of treats and activities over lunch break contributed to a fun summer at home!

-Jadeyn Lunn

20 Years of Canola Surveying

 Ready. Set. Go! 

Things are heating up in the Peace River region and the canola is blooming! As a result, we are about to hit the fields to sample canola for our survey! You’ve learned about the insect pests we've targeted (1,2), where we go (3,4), and how we survey (5) – but what happens in the field and what other information do we collect? 

Typically, we survey in teams of two, with one person serving as both driver and sweep-net sampler (Fig. 1a) and the other taking notes, preparing supplies, and collecting field information (Fig. 1b). Once we arrive at the field, the driver gets out, dons rubber boots and Tyvek booties, and enters the field to sweep-net sample. The sweep sample is collected in a large arc from the field edge out into the field and back. Ten sweeps are collected in each of five sets (for a total of 50 sweeps), spaced every 10 paces to cover multiple locations throughout the field. Samples are then bagged, examined briefly for any abnormal insects or insect densities, and then placed in a cooler on ice. 

 

Figure 1a. Co-op student, Becky Philip, sweeps a canola field near Ft. Vermilion, AB for the 2018 Beaverlodge Research Farm Annual Canola Survey.  1b. Program supervisor, Jennifer Otani, diligently takes notes for the 2008 Beaverlodge Research Farm Canola Survey.  

The passenger exits the vehicle and completes our biosecurity protocol, including vehicle sanitization. Once finished, they conduct growth ratings and identify stubble type (Fig. 2a-d). Staff are trained to detect differences in stubble such as branching white canola stubble, thin curls of pea stubble, or hunting for a wheat or barley head. Why do this? Field stubble can tell us a lot about a field! For the past 20 years, stubble assessments have provided valuable information about crop rotations used by grower-producers in the Peace River region. It can also help explain why certain insects are appearing in higher numbers. 

Figure 2a. Madysen Jones collects growth ratings and identifies stubble in a field near High Level, AB for the 2022 Beaverlodge Research Farm Canola Survey. 2b-d. Can you identify these types of stubble? Sometimes it’s not this easy. Highlight here to reveal the answers: b) canola, c) barley d) wheat. 

During my first year (2014) as a co-op student with the Beaverlodge Insect Pest Management (IPM) program, we found a parasitoid wasp, Macroglenes penetrans (Fig. 3), numbering in the thousands in some survey samples. This parasitoid preys on an economic pest of wheat, wheat midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana). Stubble type helped us to identify that M. penetrans were emerging in canola fields (2014) seeded to wheat the year prior (2013) and then moving to neighboring wheat fields. Discoveries like this help to show how spraying insecticides in canola can potentially negatively affect natural enemies for pests in other crops as well. 

Figure 3. Macroglenes penetrans wasp. Photo credit: Shelby Dufton-AAFC Beaverlodge

 

Canola survey has, and continues to be, my favorite part of the field season for our group! 2023 will be my 10th year conducting the survey and I can’t wait for many more. I would like to say a huge thank you to all the producers willing allowing us to survey on their land this year! And I would like to say a big thank you to all our IPM staff this year and in the past 20 years for helping to make this incredible data set a possibility. Check out the video below to see some of the incredible Beaverlodge IPM staff and collaborators in action over TWENTY YEARS OF SURVEY! 

Author: Shelby Dufton