Onion Maggot Management in New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin

The onion maggot (OM) continues to threaten commercial onion production in New York (ca. 12,000 acres), Michigan (ca. 8,000 acres), and Wisconsin (ca. 2,000 acres). In these states, onions are intensively grown on high organic (muck) soils. Because onion production is specialized and costly, many growers concentrate primarily on the one crop, resulting in minimal rotations to other plant species. This practice invariably increases onion maggot pressure, since this insect usually completes three generations per growing season; and has only one major commercial host in the U.S. Immature stages of the OM dwell within or just outside of underground portions of the onion plant. A system where onions are grown either continuously or in close proximity to last year's plantings must rely heavily upon effective soil chemicals applied at seeding to control the larval stages. In addition, sprays are often applied in an attempt to control the adult fly stage. However, sprays directed at flies cannot be relied upon. This is because flies move in and out of onion fields almost continuously. It has been estimated that a single application of short-lived insecticide will contact only a small percentage of the total onion fly population

Emergence Patterns of the Seedcorn Maggot, Delia platura (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)

Time of emergence of seedcorn maggot (SCM), Delia platura (Meigen), adults that developed from eggs laid in field plots from May through October 1981, was determined during 1981, 1982, and 1983. Some SCM that developed from eggs laid as early as May 1981, overwintered, and the proportion of SCM overwintering increased when eggs were laid June to October. Adults emerged from overwintered pupae from April through October 1982, and in May and June 1983. Adults of the closely related bean seed maggot (BSM), D. florilega (Zetterstedt), also emerged in the plots, but in smaller numbers than SCM. BSM males emerged in 1981 only in plots planted during May 198

An Improved Screen Cone Trap for Monitoring Activity of Flying Insects

The traps, as originally described, are difficult to build because the components are soldered together, and the traps must be replaced after three to four summers' use because of rusting. We report here a modified version of the trap that is easier to build, more durable, and more versatile

Development Rates for the Seed Maggots Delia platura and D. florilega (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)

Duration of immature stages of seedcorn maggots (SCM), Delia platura (Meigen), and bean seed maggots (BSM), D. florilega(Zetterstedt), was determined at eight constant temperatures from 5 to 40°C. No SCM or BSM survived to second instar at either 5 or 40°C. No BSM survived to the adult stage at 35°C. Duration of immature stages varied from 240 days at 10°C to 17 days at 35°C. A computer model developed using the SCM development rate data closely simulated SCM development in the field during the growing seaso

Development Rates for the Seed Maggots \u3ci\u3eDelia platura\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eD. jlorilega\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)

Duration of immature stages of seedcorn maggots (SCM), Delia platura (Meigen), and bean seed maggots (BSM), D. florilega (Zetterstedt), was determined at eight constant temperatures from 5 to 40°C. No SCM or BSM survived to second instar at either 5 or 40°C. No BSM survived to the adult stage at 35°C. Duration of immature stages varied from 240 days at 10°C to 17 days at 35°C. A computer model developed using the SCM development rate data closely simulated SCM development in the field during the growing season

Emergence Patterns of Delia radicum (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) Populations from North Carolina and New York

Cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.), populations from North Carolina (Fletcher and Scaly Mountain) and New York (Geneva and Highland) were surveyed to detect differences in the emergence pattern of flies from overwintered pupae. Populations from all locations consisted of different proportions of early- and later-emerging individuals. However, populations from New York consisted predominately of early-emerging individuals (≥90%), whereas populations from North Carolina were composed of a higher percentage of later-emerging individuals. Emergence patterns of F1 progeny from crosses between early- and later-emerging flies from Scaly Mountain demonstrated that emergence traits were genetically controlled. D. radicum phenology studies in North Carolina suggested that temporal isolation of the two types was halted by an extended period of aestivation during the summer months, which subsequently allowed the two populations to interbreed during the autumn months. The relative proportion of early:late emergers appears to be unstable over time, which may be due to differential mortality factors operating when populations are temporally isolated or due to dominance or recessive factors governing earliness or lateness, or bot

Variations in Flight Patterns of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in New York

Seasonal flights of Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) were monitored in 1981, using blacklight traps in 28 locations in central and western New York state. Calendar date of peak catch and heat unit accumulations indicated the presence of both univoltine and bivoltine biotypes, although before this study, only the latter was assumed to be present in these regions. Both biotypes were evident at 16 of the 28 trapping sites. Trap catches during the last 5 years of a 15-year study (1967-1981), at a fixed location near Geneva, N. Y., indicated the recurrence of a univoltine population that had last been noted in this region before 1964. Losses due to larval contamination of processed snap beans are reported for 1979 and 1980. Growers of susceptible crops must be aware of local flights and the potential for shifts in peak moth emergence before insecticides are applie

Mothers' AdvocateS In the Community (MOSAIC)- non-professional mentor support to reduce intimate partner violence and depression in mothers: a cluster randomised trial in primary care

Background : Effective interventions to increase safety and wellbeing of mothers experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) are scarce. As much attention is focussed on professional intervention, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of non-professional mentor support in reducing IPV and depression among pregnant and recent mothers experiencing, or at risk of IPV.Methods : MOSAIC was a cluster randomised trial in 106 primary care (maternal and child health nurse and general practitioner) clinics in Melbourne, Australia. 63/106 clinics referred 215 eligible culturally and linguistically diverse women between January 2006 and December 2007. 167 in the intervention (I) arm, and 91 in the comparison (C) arm. 174 (80.9%) were recruited. 133 (76.4%) women (90 I and 43 C) completed follow-up at 12 months.Intervention: 12 months of weekly home visiting from trained and supervised local mothers, (English &amp; Vietnamese speaking) offering non-professional befriending, advocacy, parenting support and referrals.Main outcome measures: Primary outcomes; IPV (Composite Abuse Scale CAS) and depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale EPDS); secondary measures included wellbeing (SF-36), parenting stress (PSI-SF) and social support (MOS-SF) at baseline and follow-up.Analysis: Intention-to-treat using multivariable logistic regression and propensity scoring.Results : There was evidence of a true difference in mean abuse scores at follow-up in the intervention compared with the comparison arm (15.9 vs 21.8, AdjDiff -8.67, CI -16.2 to -1.15). There was weak evidence for other outcomes, but a trend was evident favouring the intervention: proportions of women with CAS scores &ge;7, 51/88 (58.4%) vs 27/42 (64.3%) AdjOR 0.47, CI 0.21 to 1.05); depression (EPDS score &ge;13) (19/85, 22% (I) vs 14/43, 33% (C); AdjOR 0.42, CI 0.17 to 1.06); physical wellbeing mean scores (PCS-SF36: AdjDiff 2.79; CI -0.40 to 5.99); mental wellbeing mean scores (MCS-SF36: AdjDiff 2.26; CI -1.48 to 6.00). There was no observed effect on parenting stress. 82% of women mentored would recommend mentors to friends in similar situations.Conclusion : Non-professional mentor mother support appears promising for improving safety and enhancing physical and mental wellbeing among mothers experiencing intimate partner violence referred from primary care.<br /

Retaining women in a prenatal care randomized controlled trial in Canada: implications for program planning

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background:</p> <p>Challenges to retention in prenatal care seem to exist under both universal systems of care, as in Canada, and non-universal systems of care, as in the United States. However, among populations being served by a system of publicly funded health care, the barriers are less well understood and universal uptake of prenatal services has not been realized. Determining the characteristics of women who dropped out of a prenatal care randomized controlled trial can help identify those who may need alternate retention and service approaches.</p> <p>Methods:</p> <p>In this study, pregnant women were randomized to: a) current standard of care; b) 'a' plus nursing support; or c) 'b' plus a paraprofessional home visitor. 16% of 2,015 women did not complete all three telephone interviews (197 dropped out and 124 became unreachable). Responders were compared to non-responders on demographics, lifestyle, psychosocial factors, and life events using chi-squared tests. Logistic regression models were constructed using stepwise logistic regression to determine the probability of not completing the prenatal program.</p> <p>Results:</p> <p>Completion rates did not differ by intervention. In comparison to responders, non-responders were more likely to be younger, less educated, have lower incomes, smoke, have low social support, have a history of depression, and have separated or divorced parents (all p < 0.05). Unreachable women were more likely to be single, use drugs, report distress and adverse life events (all p < 0.05). Non-Caucasian women were more likely to drop out (p = 0.002). Logistic regression modeling indicated that independent key risk factors for dropping out were: less than high school education, separated or divorced parents, lower social support, and being non-Caucasian. Pregnant women who were single/separated/divorced, less than 25 years old, had less than high school education, earned less than $40,000 in annual household income, and/or smoked had greater odds of becoming unreachable at some point during pregnancy and not completing the study.</p> <p>Conclusion:</p> <p>Women at risk due to lifestyle and challenging circumstances were difficult to retain in a prenatal care study, regardless of the intervention. For women with complex health, lifestyle and social issues, lack of retention may reflect incongruence between their needs and the program.</p> <p>Trial registration:</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN64070727</p