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Lucerne flea (Sminthurus viridis) have been detected by agronomist, Laura Watson (Landmark), on volunteer lucerne plants within an irrigated wheat paddock west of Albury, in the Northeast district of Victoria. Between 10 and 15 lucerne flea were found per plant, mostly on the undersides of leaves. Laura says they were found to ‘spring off’ vegetation when disturbed, and had caused noticeable damage consisting of a ‘window pane’ effect on leaves.
Lucerne flea have been reported across several regions in south-eastern Australia in recent weeks. Their over-summering eggs hatch following periods of good soaking autumn-winter rainfall. Adult lucerne fleas are approximately 3 mm long and appear yellow-green to the naked eye. They have a wide host range and will attack most broad-acre crops, including canola, lucerne, pastures, cereals and some pulses.
Click here for images of the lucerne flea and refer to PestFacts Issue No. 1 for more information.
What is PestFacts?
PestFacts south-eastern keeps growers and advisers informed about invertebrate pests and beneficials in broadacre crops and pastures during the winter-cropping season in Victoria and southern New South Wales.
PestFacts south-eastern is run through IPMforGrains: Best Practice Insect Pest Management, a project delivered by the National Pest Information Network (cesar, DPIRD, QDAF, NSW DPI, and SARDI). This project aims to provide grain growers and advisors with information on invertebrate grain pest occurrence and equip industry with the knowledge needed to implement integrated pest management practices. This initiative is a GRDC investment and includes in-kind contributions from all project partner organisations.
We need your reports
PestFacts is produced on an ʻas-needsʼ basis and relies upon pest observations and field reports from our subscribers. If you have recently observed invertebrate pests (or beneficial species) in broadacre crops, please contact us to report your observations.
Agricultural invertebrate identification
If you are a grower or agronomist in Victoria or NSW working with broadacre crops or pastures, we can assist you with identifying invertebrates found on farms at no cost. Please contact us for identification help.
PestFacts map
PestFacts map is an interactive tool that allows users to search and view historical pest reports across Victoria and NSW. The map is updated with each issue of PestFacts to include new reports.
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With appropriate acknowledgement, cesar grants permission to reproduce information taken directly from PestFacts. To cite PestFacts: “PestFacts south-eastern (<<enter date published>>). cesar pty ltd.”
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