Canola farmers need to keep a close eye on flea beetles but shouldn’t spray at the first sign of damage, says an agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada.
Greg Sekulic said he has seen flea beetle damage in Alberta’s Peace River area canola fields but nothing more than normal.
Seeing edges chewed off new canola seedlings is expected because flea beetles need to chew part of the canola plant to ingest the insecticide in the seed treatment.
“If you walk into a field and see some activity, that isn’t a reason to be spraying,” said Sekulic.
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Instead, he recommended not spraying unless the cotyledon is more than 25 percent damaged and the flea beetles are still actively feeding.
He said he has seen only one field in the Peace region this year that had more than 25 percent damage and required spraying.
Sekulic said beneficial wasps that feed on flea beetles may control some of the pests until the plant enters its third or fourth leaf stage and it grows out of its most susceptible stage.
The most critical phase is when the canola is in the cotyledon stage and the flea beetle can do the most damage.
“There is not a lot of need for widespread spraying,” he said.
“I can’t really stress enough the importance of being in your fields in a regular basis.”
Scott Meers, an entomologist with Alberta Agriculture, said he has seen reports of flea beetle damage across the province but generally not more than normal.
The most damage comes after the initial seed protection on the treated seed has worn off and the canola hasn’t yet reached the three to four leaf stage, which is when flea beetles can no longer do as much damage to the plant.
Flea beetles are one of the most damaging insects to canola in Western Canada and can cause million of dollars in damage if an outbreak occurs.
Cold, wet conditions limit the insects’ feeding.
