Regional monitoring and updates about leafhoppers in Mendocino and Lake County
- Author: Houston Wilson
Published on: April 17, 2017
Overwintering leafhopper adults are now active in vineyards, especially on earlier varieties, and can be found on developing shoots and leaves in the vine canopy. Virginia Creeper leafhopper (VCLH) egg deposition has already been observed at sites in both Mendocino and Lake counties. No eggs of the western grape leafhopper (WGLH) have been found yet.
Fig. 1 VCLH egg deposition has been observed as early as April 5 in both Mendocino (1A) and Lake (1B) counties. No WGLH eggs have been found yet.
Comments:
by Buz Dereniuk
on April 18, 2017 at 7:38 AM
I've read an article on agrothermalsystems.com. This is a flash heat treatment. The article states that it can kill spider mites and leaf hopper nymphs on contact. Do you know about this product and process? Is this true?
Reply
by Houston Wilson
on April 18, 2017 at 9:11 AM
I've heard of this heat treatment but have never worked with it directly. To my knowledge no studies to evaluate its efficacy have ever been published. While I can see the logic of this treatment, I would be concerned about the lack of selectivity. A heat treatment like this may impact beneficial insects, such as the Anagrus spp. parasitoids that attack leafhopper eggs. That said, I would be interested to see the device in action, know more about costs of operation and conduct a closer evaluation.
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