Sugarbeet root maggot, Tetanops myopaeformis Roder, is the most important insect pest of sugarbeets in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Insecticides used to control this insect are typically granulars applied at planting. Estimated predictions for regional root maggot populations are calculated and published annually prior to planting to advise growers in particular areas on the necessity for treating with granular insecticides. Unfortunately, these predictions are calculated only at the county scale and incorporate only population data gathered from estimates of the previous year. Population predictions which are more spatially explicit and numerically accurate would refine scouting effort and provide improved advice on the necessity for insecticide application. The grower cooperative American Crystal Sugar has been monitoring sugarbeet root maggot populations at a township/range/section scale for approximately 20 years. These data can be used to calculate annual mean populations for these township/range/sections which can, in turn, be used to create an expected annual mean population for these regions. The previous years’ population estimates can then be incorporated with other factors that influence sugarbeet root maggot population (e.g. weather, soil moisture) to construct more accurate population predictions. Geographic Information Systems are being used as a modeling base to construct these predictions. Preliminary findings and predictions will be presented and discussed.
Species 1: Diptera Otitidae Tetanops myopaeformis (sugarbeet root maggot)
Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, scouting
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA