Monitoring will continue in Alberta this year for the insect that can carry a damaging potato pathogen.
Potato psyllid can carry zebra chip, an ailment that discolours tubers and makes them unattractive to processors and consumers.
Though potato psyllid insects have been found in Alberta, none have tested positive for the bacteria that causes the pathogen.
Jay Anderson, project manager for Potato Growers of Alberta, gave an update to fresh and table potato growers March 1 in Lethbridge on psyllid monitoring, which is led by researcher Dan Johnson at the University of Lethbridge.
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Monitoring involves the placement of sticky traps in fields. The insects found in the traps are then examined.
Potato psyllids and other psyllids, which are small, winged insects, do not damage crops. The risk comes if the potato type carries the pathogen-causing bacteria, which it can then spread to plants.
Anderson said zebra chip was first identified in Mexico in 1994 and has since spread through many U.S. states.
Plants can show infection with initial leaf curl, followed by yellowing leaves.
However, the troubling damage occurs in the tubers, which may look outwardly fine but have striped flesh inside. The pathogen changes the composition of potatoes’ sugars and amino acids, and the vegetables are brown and un-appealing when fried.
Potato psyllids, or paratrioza cockerelli, were found in low numbers in southern Alberta last year. They did not carry zebra chip, said Anderson. No potato psyllid eggs have been found in the province, either.
Anderson said it isn’t known if potato psyllids can overwinter in Alberta. They can survive on bittersweet nightshade, but that weed is not found in the province.
However, Anderson said Johnson’s research showed no wing wear on the psyllids, indicating they did not fly in from elsewhere.
Psyllids’ life cycle includes adult, egg and nymph, with no larval stage. Multiple life cycles are possible in one year.
No insecticide is registered in Canada for potato psyllid, although Anderson said emergency registration might be possible should psyllids test positive for the zebra chip-causing bacteria.
Psyllids also have natural predators and parasites, which likely help keep numbers in check.
