Fulton, H. G.

Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia

14 E NTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COL U MBIA , PROC. (1 957 ) , VOL. 54 , D EC. 16, 1957 SOIL INSECTICIDES FOR CONTROL OF THE TUBER FLEA BEETLE, EPITRIX TUBERIS GENT., IN THE LOWER FRASER VALLEY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA! H. G. fulton2 Entomology Laboratory, Chi ll iwack, B.C. The tuber fl ea bee tl e, Epilrix Illberis Gent., wa s fir st repo rted from the southwe stern coasta l area of British Columbia in 1940. The losses result -ing from the la rval feeding in tubers were se vere , so that it was necessary to deve lop control m easures . Th is is a summary report on experiments tu dest roy larvae conducted mainly from 1947 to 1955 on clay loam, sandy to gravelly loam, and silt soil s in the Agassiz and Chi lli wack areas. The work was carried on under th e direc-ti on of Mr. R. Glend enning, Officer-in-Charge, Entomology Laborato ry, Agassiz, until hi s retirem ent in 1953, and was continued by th e writer after that time. Early experiments showed that a thorough appl ication to potato foliage of DDT a nd calcium arsenate, o r DDT alone, reduced damage to the tubers by de stroying the beet les. However, thi s methocl of co ntro l sometimes fail-ed when material s were no t appli ed early, often, or tho rough ly enough or when weather conditi ons were un-favorable. The economic adva ntage of foliar application is that in sec ticides may readily be combined with sprays which are routinely applied to control la te bligh t. An expe rim ent in 1944 on the va lue of five materials applied to the foliage showed that tuber damage w as by no mean s proportional to the numbers of adults. With the advent of stable or-ganic in secticides eff ec tive again st soil in sec ts , experiments were conducted on ways o f killing th e larvae. P reliminary te sts in 1945 and 1946 with both field- and pot-grown pota-toes showed that neither ca lcium 1. Contribution No. 3SR7, Entomology Di\' i :;; ion , Sc ience Service, Depar tmt:n t of .Agr icultun:, Ottawa , Ca nada. 2. O fti cer in Charge. arsenate no r crvolite was effecti ve a s a la rva cid e in the soil. The best con-trul was outain ed with du st contain -ing DDT and ca lcium arsenate appli ed to the fo li age . Experiments in 1947 showed that Bl1C fro m different sources applied to the surface and worked into the so il by va riou s methods gave excellen t control, but ca used phytotoxicity at ce rtain rates. S tored tubers from all the BEC plots deve loped the char-act eri st ic taint and were ve ry dis-ta steful by spring. .In 1948 similar experiments with BHC confirm ed the previous yea r 's result s. DDT in th e soi l did not g ive any control. The standard control remained a du st of DDT and calcium a r sena te on the foliage . Tests in 1949 showed that soi l pH had littl e or no effect on the control achieved 'with either crude or refined BBC, no r did acidity or alkalinity prevent tainting . Good control was achi eved w ith chlordane worked into the soil. Four appli cations of th e standard control proved insufficient, poss ibly because the first applica ti on wa s not mad e soon enough. In 1950, sing le applications of chlo r-dane, aldr in , and lindane broadcast and inco rpo rated into the soil at va ri-ous ra tes we re com pared with DDT and m ethoxychlo r applied to the foliage. The soil treatments gave excellent control. but four foli age trea tm ent s with DDT o r m ethoxychl or w ere not effec tiv e. Tubers from th e pl ot s treated with lindane w ere COI1-demn ed beca use th ey were off- Havor-cd. In 195 1, one of the two experiments int ended to check the data on singl e so il applications of ald rin and chlor-dane was a failure because o f poor ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROC. (1957), VOL. 54, DEC. 16, 1957 15 tillage. The area occupied by the ex-perimental plots had been the site of permanent hedgerows of evergreens for many years. These had only re-cent ly been removed and it was im-possible to put the soi l in a condition of good tilth. The other experiment demonstrated 97 per cent control with aldrin at 2t pounds per acre. No experiments 'were se t up in 1952 because the question of residue hazards had not been se ttled. ) . p-In 1953, replicated experiments were conducted with a ldrin, dieldrin, and heptachlor dusts and granular heptachlor, each at 3.6 pounds of toxi-cant per acre and incorporated into the soil in a 12- to 14-inch band along the row. The best cont rol was 77 per cent with a ldrin, which indicated that the insecticides should be distributed in a wide band, as better control had been obtained with a ldrin broadcast at lower rates. Granular heptachlor gave only 47 per cent control; the T ABLE I.-Percentages of control of the tuber flea beetle. after single soil applications of various insecticides by three methods, Sardis, B.C., 1954. Material T oxica nt per Acre, pounds :Method of application Infes-tation index Co ntro l % Ald rin, 2.5% dus t Aldrin, 5.0% g ranular Heptachlor, 2.5% dust Check 4 4 2 4 4 4 2 Broadcast, deep working Broadcast, shallow working 6-inch band, shallow working Broadcast, deep working Broadcast, deep working Broadcast, shallow working 6-inch band, shallow working No treatment 6.87 5.62 33.75 9.25 4.50 12.50 20.75 133.25 95.0 95.8 75.4 93.1 96.6 90.6 84.4 o Difference necessa ry fo r significance at 5% le vel 16.5 IAverage fo r 100 tube rs taken at random from each o f 4 replica te plo ts, washed, and weighted as follows acco rding to 4 categories of damage: clean, up to 3 light injuries, 0; light, 4 to IS feeding ma rks, I; medium, 16 to 30 feedin g marks, 2; heavy, ove r 30 feeding marks, 4. Clean and li g ht categorie s marketable. !\laximum infestat ion index: 400. carrier used was later found to have contributed to a rapid loss of toxicity. Chlordane was not tested in 1953 be-cause of limitations of space and labor. In 1954, tests were conduc ted on shall ow and deep inco rpo ration of al-drin and heptachlor dusts and granular a ldrin after broadcasting. and on a nar-row, 6-inch band treatment with the two dust s. Table I shows that the broadcast treatments ga vc excellent control. There was no significant difference bctween mate rials worked into the soil deeply with a rotary cultivator and those worked in shal-lowly with a hand rake. The band treatment was more economical but significantly le ss effective. In 1955, dusts of aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, and chlordane were each te sted at three rate s to establi sh minimum dosages. Before planting, the du st s were broadcast on the surface and worked into the soil by lighc hand rak ing. The rates in pounds per acre were: aldrin and heptachlor, 4, 3, and 2 ; dieldrin, 2, It, and 1; ch lo rdane, 10, 7t, and 5. An unusually light infestation helped to 16 ENTOMOLOGIC AL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROC. (1 957 ) , VOL. 54, DEC. 16, 1957 redu cc to in sign ifi cance t he diffe rcnccs betwccn the treatm ent s, which were all at o r close to 100 pe r cen t cffec-tiv eness. No expcriment s w e re con-du cted in 1956. Summary Expc riment s from 1940 to 1955 on clay loa m" sandy to grave ll y loa m, and silt soil s showed that sati sfa ctory p ro tec ti on o f potatoes from la rva e of the tuber flea beet le can be obtained by b roadcas ting and inco rpo rating a sing le appli cation of one of seve ra l chlorinatcd hyd roca rbons into t he soil befure pl anting. Effcctivc mater-ials w ere: a ldrin, di eldrin, heptachl or , and chl o rdane. Jncorporati ng the in -sc cticide into th e so il over the entir e area wa s superi or to eithe l- na rrow o r wide band appli ca tion. No apparent diffe rences in control werc no tcd with dce p o r shall ow in co rpo rat ion. BHC and lindane caused off Jl avo r s in th c t uhers during s to rage . Give n soil in good tilth , so il t rcatm ent is simple r and mo re reli ablc than fo li ar appli ca -ti ons . a lthoug h th e la ttc r a re s t ill popula r beca usc the in sec ti cides can bc appli ed in the spray necessa ry to control late bli g ht. . ANNOTATED LIST OF FOREST INSECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PART VII - APATELA SPP. (NOCTUIDAE)I D . A . ROSS2 and D. EVANS3 Mor e than 20 specics o f Apatela (AcfOl1ycta) are known to occur in Briti sh Columbia . The lar\'a e fecd on deciduous-leaved trees , shrubs, and h erbs, and, althoug h occa siona lly num erous, are o f lit t le or no ecoll CJ mic im portance. No seve re trec defolia -tion by species of Apatela has been re-ported in Briti sh Columbia. The larvae have the typical body stru ct ure of garden cutworms; unlike th c com-mon cutworms, a number of spccies are clo thed with m edium to ve ry long, sparse to dense hai rs. Body colours are : g reen and brown, ye llowi sh , brown . or black. The Apa.lela larva l h ead is slightly bilobed ; it bears primary se tae only . Mos t , if not a ll, loca l species ove l--winter in the pupal s tage within co -coons in the bark or on th e ground. A. dactylina Grote. Salix spp. ; South ern Interior, notably a long the Big Bend Highway, between Revel-stoke and Mi le 80 ; found also on A Intis tenuifolia at Alcza Lake and Yard Creek . Larva: 21 inches long; head g lossy bla ck; body blacki sh, with dorsal transverse bands of sho r t brush-like o range hairs; hai rs on sides I. Con tribution No. 376, Forest l~iology Division, Sc ienc.e Servi ce, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa , Canacla. 2. Forest Biology L aborator y, Vernon , n.c. 3. F ores t Biology Laboratory, Victoria , n.c. ye llowi sh ; do rsa l, close ly-pai red pen-ci ls of long bla ck hai rs on A" A3 and A g . A. lepusculina Gn. Po pltltls tremll-loides, Salix spp.; Ce ntral and South -ern Interi or and Vancouve r I sland. Larva: It in ches; head black with some whiti sh markings on frons and sides; body ye ll owish or g reeni sh ex-cepting- bl ack ish vente r and dorsal st ripe; c10thell with soft, long yellow hairs; black pencil tuft on abdominal scgmcnts 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8. A. leporina L. Po ptfltls tremtlloides, P. trichocarpa, Salix spp.; Cuisson Creek Quesnel, Cast le Rock, and Clucul z Lake. Larva: Ii inches; head and body g reeni sh-white ; clothcd with ve ry long, curvcd white o r ye llowish hairs (curved fo rward o n one side, backward on the other) and a few black one s at the end of the abdomen ; there may be 3 to 5 black dorsal spot s on the dorsum o f the abdomen, ves-tiges o f black pcn cil tuft s that occur in early instars. A. innotata Gn. Betllia papyrifera; Central and Southern Interior. Larva: 11 inches; top o f head reddi sh-brown . front flesh-coloured, remainder blotch -ed with black ; body brown, tinged with blue and purple; small 'Iwarts" 

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Soil insecticides for control of the tuber flea beetle, Epitrix Tuberis Gent., in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia

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Soil insecticides for control of the tuber flea beetle, Epitrix Tuberis Gent., in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia

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Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia