Category: Pests & Predators

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Pests & Predators podcast! Host Shaun Haney is joined by Dr. Héctor Cárcamo, entomologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Lethbridge, to dig into beneficial insects and the use of  Canada wasps to help control lygus bugs and reduce insecticide use. In this episode, Cárcamo outlines… Read More

In this episode of the Pests & Predators podcast, host Shaun Haney is joined by entomologist Carol Frost and PhD student Rachel Pizante of the University of Alberta to explore the surprising power of hoverflies in Prairie cropping systems. This conversation highlights recent research showing how treed field borders can dramatically increase the presence of… Read More

Understanding what keeps beneficial insects thriving is just as important as what keeps pests at bay, but ideal conditions for parasitoids and predators aren’t well understood. Abbe Pawluk used her masters studies at the University of Lethbridge to explore the impact on habitat quality on specific parasitoid wasps to try and gauge if certain types… Read More

While it is well understood that beneficial insects are an important factor in crop pest management, there has been little research into how aware farmers are of the insects that contribute to successful harvests. Beneficial species such as lady beetles, lacewings and ground beetles can help reduce the need to spray and can be hard… Read More

The insect world is a fascinating mix of prey and predator. Wherever there are insects — pest or beneficial — there are dynamic interactions  that can greatly impact behaviour and even population dynamics, even if insects are not being eaten or attacked. Understanding the stress of interaction and awareness of their enemies without actually being… Read More

One of the most important things to learn about a pest before trying to manage for it, is to learn its lifecycle and assess the economic damage it can do. Jeremy Irvine, masters student with the University of Saskatchewan, is working on this important information for an uncommon pest: the lesser clover leaf weevil. Mainly… Read More

It’s a beetle-eat-worm world out there in the field, and it pays to know which insects are doing the eating of others, says Tyler Wist in this latest episode of the Pests and Predators podcast, brought to you by Field Heroes. Wist, entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Saskatoon, says that Ladybird beetles are… Read More

Several of the crop pest species farmers grapple with in a season aren’t actually native to the area. Pea leaf weevil, cabbage seedpod weevil, and wheat midge all came from other geographies before setting up shop on the Canadian Prairies. Still more insect pests could find their way here — or could be here already… Read More

What can you learn from two decades of scouting canola fields? Turns out — a lot. In this episode of the Pests & Predators Podcast, brought to you by Field Heroes, host Shaun Haney is joined by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada entomologist Jennifer Otani, based at Beaverlodge, Alta., to talk about those lessons learned from… Read More

Scouting fields, it’s very common to see several species of beetle scurrying along the ground and up plants. Plenty of these beetles are likely friends and not foes, as ground beetles are a diverse species with plenty of members doing good work in the crop canopy. Dr. Khaldoun Ali, a plant-insect ecologist at the University… Read More