Cesar Australia has put out a call to growers and agronomists to send in aphid samples for surveillance of resistance, tracking the presence of different aphids in different areas and looking for parasitoids.
They are looking for pea aphids on clover or faba bean and Russian wheat aphid.
If you are you outside of Victoria they are also interested in oat aphids and other aphid types such as would love to get some samples from you!
Green peach aphid samples can also be tested for chemical resistance. This will require a minimum 3-week quarantine period before testing can proceed and will likely take a minimum of five weeks.
- Pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum)
- Faba-bean aphid (Megoura crassicauda)
- Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia)
- Oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi)
- Green peach aphid (Myzus persicae)
- Blue green aphid (Acyrthosiphon kondoi)
- Potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae)
- If possible, collect a bulk of >50 individual aphids per paddock/area.
- At each paddock/area, directly remove (cut) leaves that contain aphids, leaving the aphids undisturbed.
- Place the aphids and leaves in a non-crushable plastic container. Please do not use a take-away container or in zip lock bags as these can break or squash in the post.
Excessive plant matter can lead to high moisture levels, which may kill the aphids. Avoid over-packing the container with plant matter and place a piece of tissue paper or paper towel into the container to absorb excess moisture.
Collection details including how to prepare samples for posting can be found on the Cesar website, or contact Dr Samantha Ward at sward@cesaraustralia.com for more information.
