What's eating those flea beetles? A molecular approach applied to sustainable management in canola

Flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) are pests on canola which produce severe economic damage through defoliation of canola seedlings by adults emerging from overwintering. The losses are estimated at $300 million each year across the Canadian Prairies. In Canada, three species are responsible for most of the damage: the exotics Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) and P. striolata (Fab.), and the native Psylliodes punctulata Melsh. Currently, the most widespread technique to control flea beetles in North America is the use of preventive insecticide treatments in canola seeds followed by foliar sprays, resulting in more than 90% of the crop receiving pesticides. These management strategies lead to over-spraying, resulting not only in unnecessary production costs and environmental impacts, but also increased selection pressure for insecticide-resistant strains of flea beetles. Information on the predators and parasitoids of flea beetles in these agroecosystems is very scarce and mostly dates from the late 1970s.
This work is part of an initiative to develop a sustainable approach to flea beetle control in canola which will analyze the impact of landscape factors on pest populations and damage. The present study focuses on the development of molecular tools for surveying natural enemies that may be impacting flea beetle populations.