Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Although no threshold numbers have been established, if you find the
pests, you might want to take action, particularly early in the season between
bud break and June drop. During this period, avoid harvesting or mowing al-
falfa, rape, canola, or mustard crops in or around your orchard. Mowing these
crops can drive the adult bugs into your trees to feed on the blossoms and
fruits. During the growing season, mow alternate alleys and in-row crops at
least 1 to 2 weeks apart to leave habitat on the orchard floor for the adults
and reduce the numbers in your trees.
Remove wild and escaped brambles from your windbreaks and fence-
rows. You can make prebloom and postbloom applications of Surround to
help prevent feeding damage and use azadirachtin sprays to kill the pests in
the trees. Monitor pest populations in your trees during the growing season
using beater trays. If the pests are present, you may want to apply control
sprays 1 and 2 weeks before harvest to reduce the contamination of harves-
ted fruits.
Campyloma Bug
The campyloma bug is rather a paradox. The young larvae resemble fast-
moving, translucent, greenish-white aphids. They cause damage by feeding
on developing apples less than about
⁄
2
inch in diameter. Yellow and green
1
apples appear more susceptible to damage than red varieties. Damage ap-
pears as small corky spots on the young apples, and severe infestations can
cause catfacing on the fruits.
Adults are reddish-brown, oval plant bugs with dark spots on their legs
and antennae. Unlike the nymphs, the adults are beneficial insects, feeding
on orchard pests. Monitor populations using a 20-inch-diameter round or 18
× 18-inch square white tray and padded stick to collect the juveniles. Hold
the tray under the blooms, and strike the branches with the stick. Sample
one branch per tree from at least 10 trees in each 5-acre block. If there is less
than 0.1 larva per tree for yellow or green apples, and less than one insect
per tree for red varieties, no treatment is needed.
