Comparative Toxicity of Some New Inseeticides to Beet Leafhoppers on Sugar Beets in Idaho, 1947' R
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Comparative Toxicity of Some New Inseeticides to Beet Leafhoppers on Sugar Beets in Idaho, 1947' R. J. DOl:r. LA'<;�, K. E. GmSOh", H. c. HALLOCK, AND W. E. PEAY" HE DEVELOPMENT of varieties of sugar heets resistant to curly top has madeT it profitable to grow beets again in areas of the western part of the United States that are affected by the heet leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus (Bak.). These resistant varieties are susceptihle to curly top during the early stages of growth. The heet leafhopper is the vector of the virus of this disease. When a large spring movement of heet leafhoppers has coin' cided with the seedling stage of the plant, serious losses from curly top have occurred in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Although the losses have heen local in extent, they have dealt hard blo\vs to growers in affected areas. In the mechanized program of sugar beet production the development of segmented, or sheared, seed is important in reducing hand lahor in thinning. The use of sheared seed has materially reduced the number of plants per acre as compared with the number obtaineu with the conven tional seedball method of planting. Consequently, with fewer plants avail ahle, a given number of leafhoppers will infect a larger proportion of plants with eurly top. Giddings (6) ·1 showed that resistance of the sugar heet to curly top increases rapidly with the size and age of the plant. Annand et al. (1) and Douglass et al. (4) showed that thc magnitude and time of spring movement of the leafhoppers into beet fie1us are important factors that influence the extent of curly-top epidemics. Hills (8) found that leaf hoppers entering the beet fields late in the season are relatively unim portant in causing damage by curly top. Douglass et al. showed that (5) most of the incoming beet leafhoppers enter the beet fields in continuous movements over a period of several days or during heavy flights of short duration. In 1947 the initial movement of the spring generation into beet fields on the western edge of the Twin Falls, Idaho, irrigation tract started on May 7. The peak of the movement was reached on May 20, when the average adult population recorded was I ,(iI5 per 100 square-foot samples. IThis ",ark ",as out 111 (OOpCf;:!tlOn WIth the Pldnt Industry, SOils . and Agricultural Engineenng of the United StatE's Department of Agricultur(' , the Stilt('; of Idaho P('st Control Commission, and the Idaho Agriculturalc;tnicJ Exp{'riment StatIon. Bllfl'd\l \J[ The wnten thank T. P. F. R. Lawo.()n . F. \\'. M()g('n"" Il, \\' N. Oliver. A. J. Steckle:in . F. H. S dnJ 1. A. Jr ., fOf ,lb5lSt lllg (hi� "'<Ilk. Manl". of Idah(, lur lllanus.;npt revI",,,,,,llulgk Chugg. "United Statt's Department of Agri(ultIlH', A�f1�ultllr.11 R':�Lo!f(h AJmi!ll�tratl"n. h ( , \Vlnkk, in dud H. (: Uni�er�lty 01 Entomology andth" Pl.mt Quar,lIltllle. :lNumbcrs in parcnthcs('� refef to iJt,'rat\!!'f' nil-d. Bur�'alJ PROCEEDINGS- --FIFTH GEN ER:\L MEETINf; 467 Seventy-six percent of the the hetween May 19 leafhoppcrs entered ficlJs and 26. It is impossihle to determine the period hetween the peak and the end of the spring movement, as there is no practical method of distin guishing incoming leafhoppcrs from those already there. Apparently, if the young, susceptible plants were kept free from beet leafhoppers for approximately 2 or 3 weeks Juring the spring movement in outbreak years, curly-top infection would be reduced sufficiently to make control opera tions profitable. With this thought in mind, we shall confine our discussion to the control of the spring populations. For years various workers have tried to control curly top by controlling the heet leafhopper. Cook (2) , Douglass and Romney (9) et (3), showed that pyrethrum killed beet leafhoppers"1. but did not have any residual effect. De Coursey! found that pyrethrum extract could be used with suIfur without decreasing the effectiveness of �;either material. Sulfur had residual effectupon the eggs and young nymphs, hut was not effective againsta the adults and larger nymphs. Experiments with pyrethrum mixed with various sulfurs sho'\ved that these materials reduced hoth adult and nymphal populations present at the time of treatment, but were not effec, tive against adults coming later. Many materials have heen tested at the Twin Falls lahoratory of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quartine in order to develop an insec ticide that vilould give protection to plants against curly-top infection. The results of field experiments in 1947 are presented herein. These experiments were designed to con1pare the toxicity of several new insecticides, includ ing their residual effect, when applied in different formulations as dusts, sprays, or Inists. Therefore, the work \vas delayed until high populations of leafhoppers were present in the fields. No curly-top control was planned, as the object was to determine the most effective material in its most efficient formulation. Thirteen experiments wt:re MeLhu!conductedls between June 6 and July 18, 1947, in cooperation with Harry A. Elcock, Idaho manager of the Amal, gamated Sugar Company, and heet growers of Buhl and Castleford, Idaho. The fields selected for treatment were located on the western edge of the Twin Falls irrigation tract, and dose to the leafhopper spring were breeding grounds that lie to the west of this cuttivated area. The effectiveness of the n1aterials was determined by comparing pre treatment and post-treatment numbers of adult beet leafhoppers. The counts were made with the Hills (7) square-foot sampler, which traps the insects in a circular cage. The samples, which were taken at random along the beet rows, included Inore than one plant in unthinned fields hut single 4()R AMERIC:AN SOCIETY OF SUGAR BEET TECHNOLOGISTS plants in thinno.::J fidJs. Pre,trcatment counts were m"H.1e either just prior to treatment or the day before, hy taking 100 samples in each field, 25 samples in each quarter. Post,treatment counts were made 1, 7, and 11 days after treatment, except in experiment 7, when counts were made after 2, B, and 14 days. Either 10 or 15 samples per plot 'were taken, depending on the post,treatment population. The randomized-block method was used ill setting up the experi, ments. The fields were divided into 16'row parallel plots. The number of plots determined the number of treatments and replications in each field. The number of treatments in each experiment ranged from 3 to 6 and the numher of replications from 2 to 9. FiK\lrc Srraying het:t� for the control of the kafh"Pl"'l"r, Castldord . IJah,). JlIIl\' I'). 1.- h,'d 1947 All materials were applieJ with power equipment. The water sprays were applied with 24,no.z.zle sprayer mounted on a tractor, as shown in figure 1. This sprayera covered 8 rows at a titHe. The spray was applied at the rate of approximately 90 gallons per acre except in cases where it was considered advisable to vary the dosage. The pressure was 400 pounds per square inch. The dusts were applied with an 8-noz;de duster mounted on PROCEEOINC;s--Fwnr GENER.\L MEETING flgl�r,' :;.- !)" "tlng hn't.;; {" r the control of the hcc( lcalhc)ppn, Ca�tkf,)rd, Id.lnu, J.nw 15, 190ft. trailer and attached to tractor, as shown in figure 2. This duster covereda 8 rows at a time aand was equipped with a 24-foot traiIer�typc hood. The mists. or vapor sprays, were applied with a vapor spraye[ mounted on a trailer and pulled by a tractor, as shown in figure 3. This sprayer also covereu 8 rows with 2 nozzles directed at each row. A pres� sure of 5 pounds per square inch "vas used on the liquid side of each nozzle and 12 pounds on the air side. An adjustable wire�glass hood was constructed to reduce the drift of the mist sprays. Figure 3.-ApplyJng concentrated �, \ap r spr;lycr for the Cdntloi of beet leaf Cast1cford, IJaho, June m;ltcnab �vi[h o the hoppa, 19, 1947. 470 AMERICAN SOCIETY SUGAR BEET TECHNOL()(;JSTS OF Before each treatment, the plots milrkcu hy white flag placeu were near the plot stake. As a double check, the numbers aof the plots to be treated were given to the spray operator. The emulsions and vapor sprays were made at the laboratory in steel cans immediately preceding application. The other materials were taken to the fields and either measured or weighed out and added directly to the spray tanks as they were being filled from irrigation ditches. The dusts were used as prepared by the manufacturer. The weather conditions during the treatments were recorded by instru ments located in the fields. Rains fell almost daily from May 27 to June 11 and totaled 2.67 inches. This period of inclement weather delayed the work. Insecticides Tested The following materials were tested, alone or in combination, as dusts, sprays, or mists : Ben4ene hexachloride Hexaethyl tetraphosphate Chlordane Pyrethrum Chlorinated camphene SuI fur DDT TDE The wettahle powders, as well as the oil-soluble and water�miscible chlorinated camphene <lnd pyrethrum extract, were proprietary prepara� tions. The chlordane and DDT were technical grade. The hexaethyl tetraphosphate preparation v·/as stated by the manufacturer to contain percent of hexaethyl tetraphosphate; however, the content of tetraethyl lOO pyrophosphate in this preparation is unknown. The pyrethrum ex� tract contained not less than 2 grams of pyrethrum in each 100 cubic centimeters.