While only a small percentage of canola fields tend to require foliar insecticides to manage flea beetles in addition to seed treatment, all fields should be monitored to assess the potential threat. Begin monitoring right after emergence and through until at least the four-leaf stage. Seed treatment can be effective through most of this period, but slow starting or slow growing crops under intense flea beetle pressure may require an additional foliar insecticide.
These seedlings have a lot of striped flea beetles, but what about the whole field? Photo credit: Justine Cornelsen
Step 1. Know the spray threshold. The action threshold for flea beetles in canola crops in Canada is an average leaf area loss of 25% or more. Research to re-evaluate these thresholds found that canola with up to 25% leaf area loss will yield the same as canola with no leaf area loss at al. Yield loss starts to show after 25% leaf area loss and becomes economic (yield loss is more than the total cost of the foliar spray operation) at around 50% leaf area loss. The reason for the ‘action threshold’ for flea beetles is that leaf area loss can escalate quickly from 25% to 50% and beyond in a severe infestation.
This graphic represents what 25% and 50% leaf area loss looks like. If a stem is clipped, loss is 100%.
Step 2. Assess leaf area loss. With thresholds in mind, check plants in a number of areas of the field to get an average damage level. Scout the newest leaves. Flea beetles tend to prefer fresh new leaves. If cotyledons are chewed up but newest leaves show very little feeding, then plants may be outgrowing the threat or seed treatments may be having an effect (or both). On the other hand, if cotyledons are under 50% but first true leaves are not present, flea beetles may be nipping off fresh apical meristem – the growing point for first leaves. If the meristem is lost, these leaves could be considered 100% lost. Mark those plants (could use the ‘washer’ test) and return in a day or two to see if true leaves are showing.
Cotyledons may show significant damage, but if the first leaves are in good shape, the flea beetle threat may have subsided.
Step 3. Assess stem damage. This is especially important in foul weather (wind, cool) that drives flea beetles down to leaf undersides and leaf stems. While feeding marks on the stem are likely much more consequential than feeding on a leaf, we don’t current have a way to include stem feeding in the leaf-area loss thresholds. One shallow feeding mark (could be a few flea-beetle sized bites) might not do any damage at all, but feeding that eats through the fragile new stem or cause it to break could be fatal. Plants that die due to stem feeding would have 100% leaf area loss, but seedlings that die in this fashion are hard to find and could also be lost for various other reasons, including cutworms, frost and seedling diseases. They are often missed when it comes to damage assessment. The key: Look for stem damage when scouting. If leaf area loss is below thresholds, but flea beetles are present in high numbers and the crop is not advancing, stem feeding may be the reason. Growers and agronomists observing this situation may want to be more aggressive with their spray decision, especially if the stand is thin. They can’t afford to lose more plants. Scouting note: Daily scouting needs to happen in areas approaching action threshold. Within two or three days, flea beetle feeding can escalate way beyond threshold, and actually wipe out whole areas of a field, especially in hot, dry and windy conditions. accompanied by hot/dry and windy conditions.
Step 4. Assess flea beetle feeding activity. Are the insects still present in the field and continuing to feed? If it looks like populations are dwindling, a spray may not be necessary. If flea beetles are slow and dopey, it may mean they have ingested seed treatment insecticide and are no longer feeding. But check again to make sure. Time of day and weather can influence flea beetle activity. On rainy days, for example, flea beetles will usually take cover, so rain will slow or even stop feeding for the time being. Rain can also help the crop more quickly recover.
Step 5. Consider the plant stand. This should influence your approach to the thresholds. With a thin stand of 4 plants per square foot, for example, growers can’t afford to lose any plants and may want to take action when damage is only 20-25%. But with counts in the high end of the recommend range (of 5 to 8 plants per square foot), growers can afford to lose a couple of plants without sacrificing harvest yield.
Step 6. Check the crop stage. After the 4-leaf stage (4 true leaves), the threat is likely over because the crop usually has enough plant material to feed flea beetles without compromising growth, and the plants can compensate for feeding better by this stage. If the crop is uneven (some plants are at the 4-leaf stage and some are earlier), keep scouting until most of the crop has at least 3 or 4 true leaves.
Step 7. Check canola fields frequently. Seed treatment insecticide starts working when the seed imbibes water and it can remain active for about 3-4 weeks after that point. If you have enough moisture for seed to imbibe and germinate, you have enough to solubilize the active ingredient and allow it to move into the plant. Flea beetles need to consume some plant tissue to get a dose of the protectant. High levels of flea beetles can overwhelm seed treatments. And in a slow developing crop, seed treatments can lose their protective capacities before the crop reaches the 4-leaf stage. Scout often during these first three weeks, and if flea beetle levels are building and are close to thresholds, daily checking for a few days may be required.
Step 8. If spraying is required, only use pesticides registered for flea beetles in canola. Refer to product labels for proper use instructions. No pre-harvest interval concerns exist at this stage, but this could be a deciding factor on which product to use later in the season. Specific products are limited to one application per season and a grower may want to keep these in reserve.
Source: Canola Watch
