Conservation agriculture practices such as eliminating tillage and planting high residue cover cr... more Conservation agriculture practices such as eliminating tillage and planting high residue cover crops are becoming increasingly important in field crop systems in the US Mid-Atlantic. However, these practices have sometimes been associated with an increase in moderate to severe damage to field crops by slugs. Conserving natural enemy populations is a desirable way to manage slug infestations because remedial control measures are limited. Here, we tested the effects of conservation practices, weather, and natural enemies on slug activity-density measured by tile traps placed among 41 corn and soybean fields during the spring of 2018 and 2019 in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA. We found that a positive effect of cover crops on slug activity-density was reduced by tillage and that slug activity-density declined with increasing ground beetle activity-density. Slug activity-density also declined with decreasing rainfall and increasing average temperature. Weather was the onl...
The leaf miner, Liriomyza huidobrensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae) is a polyphagous fly, which infests... more The leaf miner, Liriomyza huidobrensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae) is a polyphagous fly, which infests a wide range of vegetables and ornamental plants. However, scant knowledge exists of the biology and ecology of the pest in the Western Cape province of South Africa, both of which are essential components in developing an effective management programme. Several aspects of its biology and ecology were studied in two potato [Solanum tuberosum L. (Solanales: Solanaceae)] fields in the Sandveld region during both winter and summer months. The population densities of adult L. huidobrensis were monitored using yellow sticky traps, which were retrieved and counted once every two weeks (June 2019 to January 2020). The number of leaf miner adults caught throughout the summer and winter monitoring periods was significantly different. In addition, 50 randomly selected plants were assessed for leaf damage (in the form of punctures and mines) using presence/absence sampling. Leaf miner persistence ...
Although agriculture is crucial to economic growth in South Africa, the industry faces several ch... more Although agriculture is crucial to economic growth in South Africa, the industry faces several challenges, including the effects of pests and diseases that contribute to crop loss. Such losses severely affect the maintenance of food security. Therefore, a major challenge is finding effective, environmental-friendly control measures for insect pests. Potatoes are among the four most widely consumed vegetable crops worldwide. However, a potato crop can be infested by various pests, like the devastating leaf miner, Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae). The leaf miner species has, since the early 2000s, become an important pest of various vegetable crops in South Africa. The species is highly invasive, causing up to 70 % damage of solanaceous crops. The damage that is caused by the leaf miner is direct, resulting from the female flies feeding on the leaf mesophyll during oviposition, and the larvae mining the leaves. Indirect damage is induced through pathogens ente...
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Papers by Thabu Mugala