Cereal Aphid Manager

Aphids can cause significant damage to fields and increase crop losses but low densities in a grain field sometimes have little economic impact on production. This is especially true if the aphid’s natural enemies (beneficial insects) are present in the field because they can keep the aphids under control.

The Cereal Aphid Manager is an easy-to-use mobile app that helps farmers and crop advisors control aphid populations in wheat, barley, oat or rye. It is based on Dr. Tyler Wist's (AAFC-Saskatoon) Dynamic Action Threshold model. The model treats the grain field as an ecosystem and takes into account many complex biological interactions including:

• the number of aphids observed and how quickly they reproduce
• the number of different natural enemies of aphids in the field and how many aphids they eat or parasitize per day
• the lifecycles of aphids and their enemies taking into account developmental stages, egg laying behaviour, population growth rate, lifespan, etc.

Frequent in-field scouting, supported by the app's dynamic threshold, allows growers to weigh the above factors and the app predicts what the aphid population will be in seven days and the best time to apply insecticide based on economic thresholds.

To learn more and to download, go to AAFC's CAM webpage. 

CAM Homepage

CAM monitoring report and recommendation

Insect of the Week (July 22): Doppelgangers: Lygus bugs nymphs vs. aphids

The case of lygus bug nymphs versus aphids: Small, green, soft-bodied, sucking insects - at first glance they could be either lygus bug nymphs or aphids. But spend a moment and look for the following characteristics, and you'll be able to tell which pest you are dealing with.

• Size: depending on the species, aphids can reach up to 4 mm long, but most will be 1-2 mm. Lygus bug nymphs will be larger, 4-6 mm long
• Cornicles (small upright backward-pointing tubes found on the back side at the rear of abdomen): aphids have them, lygus bug nymphs do not. In some aphid species, the cornicles or where they attach to the abdomen are black (e.g. corn aphid, English grain aphid). 
• Markings: older lygus bug nymphs have five distinct black dots on their thorax and abdomen; aphids do not.

For more information about these species and more tips on telling them apart, see our Insect of the Week page! Also, see our Monitoring protocols for lygus bugs in canola. 

Tarnished plant bug nymph - note five black dots on

throrax and abdomen - Scott Bauer, USDA



English grain aphid - adult and nymphs - note black cornicles

(tubes) sticking out the back - Tyler Wist, AAFC

The case of the innocuous versus the evil twin: When making pest management decisions, be sure that the suspect is actually a pest. This can be challenge since insects often mimic each other or look very similar. An insect that looks, moves and acts like a pest may in fact be a look-alike or doppelganger.

Doppelgangers may be related (e.g. same genus) or may not be related, as in the case of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and viceroys (Limenitis achrippus).  Doppelgangers are  usually relatively harmless but sometimes the doppelganger is a pest yet their behaviour, lifecycle or hosts may be different.

Correctly identifying a pest enables selection of the most accurate scouting or monitoring protocol. Identification and monitoring enables the application of economic thresholds. It also enables a producer to select and apply the most effective control option(s) including method and timing of application.  For the rest of the growing season, the Insect of the Week will feature insect crop pests and their doppelgangers.

Review previously featured insects by visiting the Insect of the Week page.

Cereal Aphid Manager (CAM) (June 27, 2019; Wk12)

Reminder  and Congratulations!  The Cereal Aphid Management (CAM) Mobile Application Team was recognized with an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Gold Harvest Award this month!  Team members included Ashraf Eid, Paul Faure, John Gavloski, François Jodoin, Elham Karimi, Eric Li, Jackson Macdonald, Nancy MacDonald, Owen Olfert, Chrystel Y. Olivier, 

Daniel Shen, Erl Svendsen, Gabriel Tobian, Tyler J. Wist.

"The app is a culmination of innovative thinking, extensive research, and most importantly collaboration in order to design a tool that met the needs of the farming community. The team’s ability to work together and build this application will result in economic savings, a greener environment, and increased crop quality in the food production industry."

The Cereal Aphid Manager is an easy-to-use mobile app that helps farmers and crop advisors control aphid populations in wheat, barley, oat or rye. It is based on Dr. Tyler Wist's (AAFC-Saskatoon) innovative Dynamic Action Threshold model. The model treats the grain field as an ecosystem and takes into account many complex biological interactions including:

• the number of aphids observed and how quickly they reproduce
• the number of different natural enemies of aphids in the field and how many aphids they eat or parasitize per day
• the lifecycles of aphids and their enemies taking into account developmental stages, egg laying behaviour, population growth rate, lifespan, etc.

By taking into consideration factors like these, the app predicts what the aphid population will be in seven days and the best time to apply insecticide based on economic thresholds.

Available in iOS and Android.

To learn more and to download, go to AAFC's CAM webpage.

Note: Cereal aphids can blow up from the South at any time which cannot be predicted by the app. Therefore, farmers and crop advisors should regularly check fields during the growing season regardless of what Cereal Aphid Manager Mobile may recommend.

CAM Homepage

CAM monitoring report and recommendation

CAM icon

Cereal Aphid Manager (CAM) (June 6, 2019; Wk09)

Congratulations!  The Cereal Aphid Management (CAM) Mobile Application Team was recognized with an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Gold Harvest Award this month!  Team members included Ashraf Eid, Paul Faure, John Gavloski, François Jodoin, Elham Karimi, Eric Li, Jackson Macdonald, Nancy MacDonald, Owen Olfert, Chrystel Y. Olivier, 

Daniel Shen, Erl Svendsen, Gabriel Tobian, Tyler J. Wist.

"The app is a culmination of innovative thinking, extensive research, and most importantly collaboration in order to design a tool that met the needs of the farming community. The team’s ability to work together and build this application will result in economic savings, a greener environment, and increased crop quality in the food production industry."

The Cereal Aphid Manager is an easy-to-use mobile app that helps farmers and crop advisors control aphid populations in wheat, barley, oat or rye. It is based on Dr. Tyler Wist's (AAFC-Saskatoon) innovative Dynamic Action Threshold model. The model treats the grain field as an ecosystem and takes into account many complex biological interactions including:

• the number of aphids observed and how quickly they reproduce
• the number of different natural enemies of aphids in the field and how many aphids they eat or parasitize per day
• the lifecycles of aphids and their enemies taking into account developmental stages, egg laying behaviour, population growth rate, lifespan, etc.

By taking into consideration factors like these, the app predicts what the aphid population will be in seven days and the best time to apply insecticide based on economic thresholds.

Available in iOS and Android.

To learn more and to download, go to AAFC's CAM webpage.

Note: Cereal aphids can blow up from the South at any time which cannot be predicted by the app. Therefore, farmers and crop advisors should regularly check fields during the growing season regardless of what Cereal Aphid Manager Mobile may recommend.

CAM Homepage

CAM monitoring report and recommendation

CAM icon

Ladybird beetles (Aug 16, 2018; Wk 15)

Reminder - While scouting, you may encounter these fascinating organisms.....

Figure 1. Ladybird beetle larva (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 2. Ladybird beetle pupa (Left) and larva (Right) (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 3. Ladybird beetle pupa (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 4. Ladybird beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 5. Aphids nestled on wheat head (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 6. An aphid "mummy" adhered to a wheat awn.  Mummy is the aphid host converted to
enclose a soon-to-emerge parasitoid wasp (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Ladybird beetle larvae (Fig. 1-2), pupae (Fig. 2-3), and adults (Fig. 4) can all be found in fields at this time of year.  Take a look at the various stages and the many patterns of native and introduced species to recognize these as Field Heroes!  Ladybird beetles are categorized as general predators and will feed on several species of arthropods but are partial to aphids (Fig. 5).  

Ladybird beetles (Aug 02, 2018; Wk 13)

While scouting, you may encounter these fascinating organisms.....

Figure 1. Ladybird beetle larva (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 2. Ladybird beetle pupa (Left) and larva (Right) (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 3. Ladybird beetle pupa (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 4. Ladybird beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 5. Aphids nestled on wheat head (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Figure 6. An aphid "mummy" adhered to a wheat awn.  Mummy is the aphid host converted to
enclose a soon-to-emerge parasitoid wasp (photo credit: AAFC-Beaverlodge)

Ladybird beetle larvae (Fig. 1-2), pupae (Fig. 2-3), and adults (Fig. 4) can all be found in fields at this time of year.  Take a look at the various stages and the many patterns of native and introduced species to recognize these as Field Heroes!  Ladybird beetles are categorized as general predators and will feed on several species of arthropods but are partial to aphids (Fig. 5).  

Previous Posts (Aug 02, 2018; Wk 13)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Abundant parasitoids in canola - Week 10 
Alfalfa weevil - Week 6

Cabbage seedpod weevil - Week 12 
Cabbage root maggot - Week 11 
Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Cereal leaf beetle larvae request - Week 8
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Cutworms - Week 4

Diamondback moth - Week 7
Download the field guide - Week 10

Field heroes - Week 8
Flea beetles - Week 4

Monarch migration - Week 8

PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3
Wheat midge - Week 12

White grubs in fields - Week 8

Wind trajectories - Week 6
Wireworm distribution maps - Week 6

Cereal Aphid Manager (CAM) (Jul 26, 2018; Wk 12)

Reminder - Aphids can cause significant damage to fields and increase crop losses, but just because aphids are present in a grain field doesn’t mean they will have a negative economic impact on production. This is especially true if there are aphid’s natural enemies (beneficial insects) in the field to keep them under control.

The Cereal Aphid Manager is an easy-to-use mobile app that helps farmers and crop advisors control aphid populations in wheat, barley, oat or rye. It is based on Dr. Tyler Wist's (AAFC-Saskatoon) innovative Dynamic Action Threshold model. The model treats the grain field as an ecosystem and takes into account many complex biological interactions including:

• the number of aphids observed and how quickly they reproduce
• the number of different natural enemies of aphids in the field and how many aphids they eat or parasitize per day
• the lifecycles of aphids and their enemies taking into account developmental stages, egg laying behaviour, population growth rate, lifespan, etc.

By taking into consideration factors like these, the app predicts what the aphid population will be in seven days and the best time to apply insecticide based on economic thresholds.

Available in iOS and Android.

To learn more and to download, go to AAFC's CAM webpage.

Note: Cereal aphids can blow up from the South at any time which cannot be predicted by the app. Therefore, farmers and crop advisors should regularly check fields during the growing season regardless of what Cereal Aphid Manager Mobile may recommend.

CAM Homepage

CAM monitoring report and recommendation

CAM icon

Previous Posts (Jul 26, 2018; Wk 12)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Abundant parasitoids in canola - Week 10
Alfalfa weevil - Week 6

Cabbage seedpod weevil - Week 8 
Cabbage root maggot - Week 11 
Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Cereal leaf beetle - Week 5
Cereal leaf beetle larvae request - Week 8
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Crop reports - Week 8
Cutworms - Week 4

Diamondback moth - Week 7
Download the field guide - Week 10

Field heroes - Week 8
Flea beetles - Week 4

Monarch migration - Week 8

Pea leaf weevil - Week 8
PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3
White grubs in fields - Week 8
Wind trajectories - Week 6
Wireworm distribution maps - Week 6

Previous Posts (Jul 19, 2018; Wk 11)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Abundant parasitoids in canola - Week 10Alfalfa weevil - Week 6

Cabbage seedpod weevil - Week 8 
Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Cereal leaf beetle - Week 5
Cereal leaf beetle larvae request - Week 8
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Crop reports - Week 8
Cutworms - Week 4

Diamondback moth - Week 7
Download the field guide - Week 10

Field heroes - Week 8
Flea beetles - Week 4

Monarch migration - Week 8

Pea leaf weevil - Week 8
PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3
Wind trajectories - Week 6
Wireworm distribution maps - Week 6
White grubs in fields - Week 8

Previous Posts (Jul 05, 2018; Wk 09)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Alfalfa weevil - Week 6

Cabbage seedpod weevil - Week 8 
Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Cereal leaf beetle - Week 5
Cereal leaf beetle larvae request - Week 8
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Crop reports - Week 8
Cutworms - Week 4

Diamondback moth - Week 7

Field heroes - Week 8
Flea beetles - Week 4

Monarch migration - Week 8

Pea leaf weevil - Week 8
PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3
West nile virus - Week 8
Wind trajectories - Week 6
Wireworm distribution maps - Week 6
White grubs in fields - Week 8

Previous Posts (Jun 28, 2018; Wk 08)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Alfalfa weevil - Week 6

Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Cereal leaf beetle - Week 5
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Cutworms - Week 4

Diamondback moth - Week 7

Flea beetles - Week 4

PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3
Wind trajectories - Week 6
Wireworm distribution maps - Week 6

Previous Posts (Jun 21, 2018; Wk 07)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Alfalfa weevil - Week 6

Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Cereal leaf beetle - Week 5
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Cutworms - Week 4

Flea beetles - Week 4

PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3
Wind trajectories - Week 6
Wireworm distribution maps - Week 6

Previous Posts (Jun 14, 2018; Wk 06)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Cereal leaf beetle - Week 5
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Cutworms - Week 4

Flea beetles - Week 4

PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3

Previous Posts (Jun 07, 2018; Wk 05)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Crop protection guides - Week 2
Cutworms - Week 4

Flea beetles - Week 4

PMRA Pesticide Label Mobile App - Week 4

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Week 4

Weather radar - Week 3

Previous Posts (May 31, 2018; Wk 04)

The following is a list of 2018 Posts - click to review:

Cereal aphid manager (CAM) - Week 2
Crop protection guides - Week 2

Scouting charts (canola and flax) - Week 3

Weather radar - Week 3