Chemical control of Haplodiplosis marginata von Roser (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

Abstract

The saddle gall midge, Haplodiplosis marginata (von Roser), has been detected in Belgium since 2010, after several decades without any reporting. It had indeed caused serious damages between 1965 and 1970. This insect is a European cereal pest whose larvae feed on stems and engender saddle-shaped depressions, resulting in yield losses. Face with the resurgence of this pest, it was decided to study its spatial distribution and, because serious damages were observed in some regions, to develop effective curative control. To date, chemical protection seems to be the only immediate solution in case of heavy emergences. Experimentation was conducted in a highly infested field (Meetkerke, Belgian Polders), according to a randomized complete blocks arrangement with four replications. Foremost, a lambdacyhalothrin-based insecticide was used to evaluate efficiency of several protection schemes, ranging between one and four spray(s). The large spread of flights observed during the 2011 spring allowed to highlight the effect of treatment date on the attack intensity and also on the galls distribution along the stem, on the different internodes: the lower internodes were protected by the early sprayings, while last sprayings induced reduction of galls number on the upper internodes. Moreover, several insecticides already registrated in cereals against aphids were compared for their efficacy against saddle gall midge. Studied pyrethroids have shown a very good efficacy, ranging between 75% and 87%, when applied twice with a 2 weeks interval. To be efficient, insecticide applications must thus be synchronized with the flights and egg-laying periods. Monitoring the phenology of flights is thus essential as part of integrated pest management against saddle gall midge.