| If you are
certain you have root maggots, the following steps
should be taken. 1. - Any plants
already affected can't be salvaged. Pull them out and
destroy them - Do not put them in the compost and don't
leave them lying around . Burn them or put them in
sealed plastic bags and get em out of the area.
2. - Soil immediately surrounding the
root area - loose soil in the hole from which the plant
was just removed - should also be disposed of.
Preventative measures , some people
say are like closing the barn door after the animals
have escaped. But they certainly will help prevent a
recurrence.
Female flies lay their eggs in moist
loose soil, such as from newly planted seed rows.
Covering seedbeds with floating row covers immediately
after seeds are sown can help prevent an infestation.
Beneficial nematodes are very
effective in controlling root maggots.
Turn under crop debris immediately
after harvest to destroy overwintering sites.
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Blueberry
maggots
| The blueberry maggot (Rhagoletis mendax
Curran) is a common pest of blueberries in
Canada and the northern United States. Although
its range seems to be expanding southward,
infestations tend to be localized and sporadic
in the South. The adult is a small, black fly,
about 4 mm (3/16 in.) long . It can be
recognized by a distinctive pattern of black
bands running diagonally across each wing , by
white bars on each side of the thorax, a white
spot at the posterior tip of the thorax, and
white lines along the back edge of each
abdominal segment. Larvae develop entirely
within the blueberry fruit and grow to about 1/2
in. in length. They have tapered, wormlike
bodies with no legs, eyes, or antennae .
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"Use bait traps to trap adult blueberry maggots.
Ammonium carbonate is the attractant, and the flies are caught on
surfaces coated with tangletrap .
There are several ways to design the traps. For one trap, start with
a cottage cheese container. Place about 1 teaspoon of ammonium
carbonate [a small vial of liquid ammonia will suffice] in
paper and faster it to the bottom of the container, then coat the
inside walls with tangletrap .
Hang the trap upside-down from the foliage by a string fastened to
the bottom of the container. If you paint the trap goldenrod yellow,
it will be even more effective." -
Michigan State University - Blueberry Maggot Fact Sheet
University of Maine -Monitoring for the Blueberry Maggot
Pepper Maggot
The adult pepper maggot fly is a a brightly
colored yellow striped fly . It has one pair of brown-banded, clear
wings.
A small black dot is located on each side of the last segment of the
abdomen.
The white, crook necked-shaped egg is roughly 2 mm long and about 0.3 mm
wide.
White and opaque when newly hatched, it turns yellow as it develops.
Infestations of pepper maggot can be patchy and sporadic even in
locations where there is a history of the insect infestations. To reduce
populations, sanitation and crop rotation is helpful. Pick up any fallen
peppers and destroy them. Destroy any horse-nettles (an alternate host)
in the vicinity. |
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Once flies have been detected, there are several control methods
available. One method is to cover the pepper plants with fine netting,
sealed by dirt on the ground. This physically excludes the fly. The
approach can only be effective if there is no possibility of adult flies
emerging from the soil underneath the plants.
beneficial nematodes
are another option. Nematodes are active pepper maggot larva seekers
and move quickly through the soil.
If natural controls prove ineffective
Malathion
is recommended
Connecticut agricultural experiment Station-Pepper Maggot
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service-Pepper Maggot
Cabbage Maggot
A very destructive early season pest is the
cabbage maggot . This pest not affects you guessed it ... cabbage,
and can also wreak havoc on other members of the Brassica family
...cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprout, as well as radish, turnip,
and beets.
The adult resembles the common house fly ,only a bit smaller, being
about a quarter of an inch in length. The fly is a darkish ash gray
and has black stripes on the thorax as well as black bristles over
the body [Image]. The female will lay eggs which will hatch into white,
legless maggots. These maggots feed on the roots of the previously
mentioned vegetables. The maggots will develop into brown egg shaped puparia
which are to be found from one to four inches down in the soil . During the winter period the maggot lives in the soil,
The presence of beneficial nematodes
and
Diatomaceous Earth
in the soil at this point will severely retard the advance of this pest.
As
Spring comes around and the soil warms up, the adult will emerge
from the ground and begin to mate. Eggs will then be laid on the
soil close to the host plant. After about a week the eggs will hatch
and the tiny maggots will begin feeding on the roots . They tunnel
through the roots destroying them. Within a month the maggots will
turn into a pupae and two to three weeks later the adult will come
forth and the cycle begins again.
If natural controls prove ineffective
Malathion
is recommended
University of California - IPM Cabbage Maggot
The Cabbage Root Maggot in Newfoundland and Labrador
Seed Corn Maggot
The pale yellowish-white seed corn maggot
burrows into seeds already in the soil. Sprouts of several
vegetable crops are attacked by this seed infesting maggot. The
Adult Fly looks pretty much like a common house fly...
slight size difference.
Although it is called seed
corn
maggot it is much more likely to damage beans, peas, cabbage,
turnip , onion, radish and spinach. It is a close relative of
the onion maggot and the cabbage maggot.
The seed corn maggot passes the winter in the soil in the maggot
stage inside a dark brown, cocoon-like puparia, 1 1/2 to 2 inch
long.
The first-generation flies emerge about planting time. These
flies are grayish-brown to slightly greenish in color and about
1/5 inch long. The flies deposit their eggs in the soil where
there is an abundance of decaying organic matter , or on the
seed or young, developing plant. The second and third generation
appear in mid- and late summer.
The hatching maggots make their way to the sprouting seeds where
they bore into, feed on, and often destroy the cotyledons and
growing point of the seed of young plants.
Seed corn maggot populations vary greatly depending on
environmental conditions , take precautions prior to planting to
keep damage from this insect to a minimum. Otherwise, this
critter will probably not be detected until seeds and seedlings
are lost. Plant in a seedbed only deep enough for adequate soil moisture.
Plant after the ground is warm enough for rapid germination and
growth.
Reduce use of organic fertilizer in the seeded row, whenever
possible, if and only if there has been a problem in the past
with these pests. One
control option is to plant seeds pretreated with a product
containing diazinon ,
if unavailable, granules may be worked into the soil before
planting.
Penn State Dept. of Entomology Fact Sheet
Perdue University- Field Crops |