Spotted Alfalfa Aphid Moving Toward East at Rapid Pace The spotted alfalfa aphid, fast est-spreading foreign insect pest ever to invade this country, cros sed the Mississippi River east ward and was found last year in 16 states where it as not previous ly known. The pest seriously damaged U. S. alfalfa for the first time in 1954, when it was found in six Western States. By 1955’s end, it had reached the Mississippi Riv er and appeared in 14 states. It is now found in 30 states, accord ing to entomologists of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. In 1956 the aphid completed its spread across the entire southern two-thirds of the United States and as far north as South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. In most of these 30 states it caused only slight reductions in alfalfa production last year. The newly invaded states east of the Missis sippi reported only scattered local injury. However, aphid dam age, combined in some areas with drought, exacted a consid erable toll from alfalfa growers in 11 Western and Midwestern States last year. Greatest reported losses were in California, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Losses in Kansas and Texas were based upon reduction in alfalfa due to aphid damage and drouth conditions combined. Texas reported an estimated 50 ♦per cent reduction in acreage from aphid-drought damage, DEPENDABLE SERVICE GARBER OIL COMPANY Phone 3-9331 Mt. Joy, Pa. Pacemaker maker the difference! What a difference! Baby chick* thrive on Eastern States PACE* MAKER. Growth Is rapid. Feathers come fast Mortality is low. PACEMAKER builds strong, healthy chicks at low cost. Eastern States PACEMAKER is: high in energy • low in fiber • balanced with proteins. vitamins and minerals • fortified with animal fat and • includes a growth stimulant and coccidiosis control. Start your chides on PACEMAKER nowl AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING UNLOADING POINTS; ROBERT BARR Washington Boro ENOS R. BUCKWALTER Bird-in-Hand EVAN E. DINGER Reinholds MAURICE GOOD Gordonville HENRY HOOVER Ephrata MARK HOSLER Manheim & Lititz JACOB L. KURTZ Elizabethtown EASTERN STATES SERVICE CENTER Quarryville Phone STerling 6-3647 EASTERN STATES SERVICE CENTER Lancaster Phone Express 4-3755 Oklahoma a 25 per cent loss in yield from aphid damage. Additional cost to produce alfalfa hay in treated areas varied from less' than $1 to over $7.50 per ton, depending on number of insecticidal treatments required and percentage of crop lost. Mala thion and parathion were the ma terials most commonly used on alfalfa hay crops. £ • ti .ivi, f Damage by the pest started early and continued late. In festations developed in the West and Southwest in January; as late as November, heavy popula tions were at work in Nebraska and Kansas. The spotted alfalfa aphid has been found at elevations up to 5,000 feet, and can travel hund reds of miles, with~the wind. It multiplies fast, and a single speci men can start a new colony. Since entomologists believe no man-made barriers can halt spread of such an insect, efforts are being concentrated on re search to develop control mea sures for the future. The work has been intensified on several fronts. Testing and breeding of alfalfa varieties resistant to the pest are being stepped up. USDA entomo logists and plant breeders are co operating in this important task. The plant breeders are obtaining an extra crop each year by grow ing experimental combinations in a winter seed-increase block in Mexico and in greenhouses in the United States. Plans for addi tional greenhouse - facilities are under way to aid in this round the-calandar testing and breed ing work. Entomologists are test ing alfalfas made available by the breeders for their reaction to the 'spotted alfalfa aphid. Plant breed ers are crossing the most promis ing resistant lines with improved but non-resistant lines. These are being increased vegetatively to get seed for further testing. Lahontan, a variety with excel lent resistance, does best in the nrigated valleys of the inter mountam area for which it was developed. It is lending its re sistence to other strains. Though some of them look more promis ing, resistance-wise, than Lahon •* •• * • • STEPHEN M. KURTZ Joanna & Conestoga JOHN S. MARTIN Bareville JOHN MELHORN Mount Joy WILSON SCOTT Willow Street LESTER SCHULTZ Willow Street MARTIN WANNER Gap DAVID H. WEAVER New Holland THE ABOVE MAP shows the rapid spread of the spotted alfalfa aphid. If the spread continues at the present rate, it is very likely, some authorities say, that the aphid tan, their adaptability rs yet to be tested. A long-ranee, funda mental study of the genetics of Lathonlan’s near-immunity to aphids is also under way, to give direction in breeding procedures. Biological control appears promising. Native- lady beetles and other predators devoured enough of the pests last year in some areas to keep aphid num bers down. Fungus diseases decreased populations and proved of some value in California, Missouri, Arkansas, and Arizona in 1956. Such fungus diseases are most ef fective in moist or irrigated areas. USDA scientists received a ship ment of diseased aphids last week from India. From such stock, dis ease cultures are made for future testing on the aphids now spread ing across the country. Several fungus diseases collected in the United States now in test tubes will be dispersed on aphid-in fested alfalfa in Oklahoma this year, in cooperative Federal- State experiments. Small aphid-attacking wasps in troduced from Asia and Europe have shown promise of controll ing the aphid in California and Arizona. Tremendous numbers of parasites were liberated in Cali fornia and apparently thrived. Late cuttings of alfalfa hay turn ed up quantities of aphid “mum mies” heavily parasitized by the wasps, which lay their eggs in the bodies of the aphids. Many thousands of parasites from the Near East and Europe have been Dr. Eva Crane To Speak Mar. 12 To Beekeepers Beekeepers in this area will have an opportunity to hear one of the world’s foremost authori ties on apiculture, Dr. Eva Crane, of England, in an address at 8 p.m., Tuesday, March 12, in Mor ris Arboretum, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. The meeting will be open to all bee men of the area. Dr. Crane, editor of the English monthly, “The Bee World,” is also direc tor of the Bee Research Assn, of England Her visit to Philadel phia will be part of a second visit to the United States during the last two years this time to lec ture and to observe commercial bee operations. In 1955 she made study of bee research in America. •• •* •+ «* :: Fred W Schwoebel, Philadel phia, in charge of the Mar. 12 meeting, has asked guests to use the Meadowbrook Avenue en trance. to the Arboretum. The meeting will be in the Mansion House. A mecca for bee enthusi asts, Morns Arboretum contains the L L. Langstroch Memorial erected in honor of, the inventor #£ 1954 sent to U S. laboratories for mass rearing. They were liberated in the field in nine states last year i in very limited numbers. Large ] stocks of three different parasites will be ready this year for libera tion in aphid-infested states. One USDA entomologist is still in India, seeking natural enemies of the aphid To date, no para sites have ben found there, but several predators that feed on the pest will be introduced from India into this country this year Unfoitunately, insecticides that kill the spotted alfalfa aphid also kill its parasites and predators They cannot be used where na tural enemies have been icleased. Entomologists are seeking more effectn e insecticides. The ideal insecticide would kill the aphid and not its natural enemies. It would kill at lower emperatures, say at 40 degrees F —insecticides now available are not effective until the mercury reaches about 55 degrees or higher, and make control difficult on early spring and late fall crops It would be a one-treatment insecticide; sev eral applications are now neces sary during the season Consid erable research is being done on systemic insecticides, with the hope of developing a seed treat ment that would make the plant poisonous to aphids during its first crucial weeks. Just where the aphid came from, or how it got hcic, is un known. Aphids almost identical Lancaster Farming, Friday, March 1, 1957 MtpeaapUe* In i PfSl Survey S*cU*n, PPC, ASS, JSDA !ate repens receive* te January 1, i3*'7 atd tre» ASS recer*- 1955 will appear on the East Coast this growing season. Thus far, no adequate control measure has been found for the insect. (USDA Map) in appearance to the spotted alfal fa aphid have been found in east- ern Mediterranean aieas. Ap parently such aphids are not high ly destructive to alfalfa in such areas, bolstering hopes that na tural enemies maj eventually be found to curb its damage in the United States The Best Broiler Cross at its Best Martin fuses the work of the n*> tion's leading breeders to give ye» top quality chicks that mature early for quick broiler orofitft. PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW MARTIN'S HATCHERY POULTRY, FARMS. INC. 11
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