From lonrom@hevanet.com Wed Jun 23 13:17:22 1999 Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 07:37:15 -0700 From: Lon J. Rombough To: SANET , AGRISYNERGY , Organic Gardening Discussion List Subject: FW: "Spurgefest" Offers Flea Beetles a Feast ---------- From: "ARS News Service" To: "ARS News List" Subject: "Spurgefest" Offers Flea Beetles a Feast Date: Wed, Jun 23, 1999, 7:05 AM NEWS RELEASE: "Spurgefest" Will Offer Flea Beetles a Feast ----------- ARS News Service Agricultural Research Service, USDA Kathryn Barry Stelljes, (510) 559-6069, stelljes@asrr.arsusda.gov June 23, 1999 ----------- MEDORA, N.D., June 23--Millions will gather here for lunch at the end of June--millions of beetles, that is. The featured menu item, courtesy of scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service, is an exotic noxious weed called leafy spurge. The weed causes millions of dollars in production losses each year. Researchers plan to give away up to 10 million flea beetles (Aphthona species) to ranchers and land managers at Spurgefest '99. Held June 29 to July 1 in Medora, N.D., Spurgefest will be the first field day for The Ecological Areawide Management of Leafy Spurge, or TEAM Leafy Spurge. Biological control using the one-eighth-inch beetles represents the cornerstone of an integrated approach to curbing the spread of leafy spurge. The weed, known to scientists as Euphorbia esula, covers at least 5 million acres in 29 states and increases about 10 percent annually. The Agricultural Research Service established TEAM Leafy Spurge in 1997 as its first Areawide Integrated Pest Management program to address rangeland weeds. The program is managed in cooperation with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and includes numerous state and federal agencies as well as four land-grant universities. Spurgefest begins June 29 with a scientific meeting to present research progress against the weed. On June 30, field tours will demonstrate biological control, grazing, herbicides and other control tactics. On July 1, speakers from the Departments of Agriculture and Interior will discuss broad issues regarding invasive weeds, including a recently signed executive order on invasive species. July 1 is also the date of the Aphthona beetle give-away. Production losses and control costs attributed to leafy spurge amount to more than $144 million annually in just four of the 29 spurge-infested states: Montana, North and South Dakota and Wyoming. "Herbicides have long been the foundation of weed control," said ARS ecologist Gerry L. Anderson. "But we know now that using various combinations of control tools, such as grazing, biological control and herbicides, provides better control than any single tool. We're showing land managers how to integrate the available tools to get the best control for the lowest cost." Anderson is ARS' principal investigator on the project. He works at the agency's Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, Mont. Leafy spurge is native to Europe and Asia. ARS researchers returned to the weed's homeland in the 1960s to search for natural enemies that might help prevent it from running rampant. Several species of flea beetles were among the most useful insects they found. After years of safety testing, ARS began importing and releasing the beetles in the 1980s. Since then, the insects have become established and are eating leafy spurge at thousands of locations in more than 19 states and Canadian provinces. The millions to be distributed this summer will be collected from sites where the beetles have reproduced on leafy spurge. "The use of biologically based, integrated management strategies is the best option for ranchers and land managers to effectively and affordably control leafy spurge," said Anderson. "This approach will help keep rangelands productive and preserve native plants and biodiversity." Leafy spurge infests about 4,200 acres of the 70,448-acre Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota Badlands. But since 1987, the National Park Service has released more than 4 million flea beetles as part of a program to rein in the weed. The park will host the Medora event. The growing environmental and economic threat of invasive species like leafy spurge has spawned the creation of an Invasive Species Council. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman will co-chair the Council with his counterparts at Interior and Commerce. The Council will coordinate the federal strategy to combat invasive species and identify ways to prevent their introduction and spread in the U.S. Meanwhile, the President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2000 includes an increase of more than $28.8 million for the war on invasive species. ---------- Scientific contact: Gerry L. Anderson or Chad Prosser, ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, 1500 N. Central Ave., Sidney, MT 59270, phone (406) 482-2020, fax (409) 482-5038, gerry@mail.sidney.ars.usda.gov or chad@mail.sidney.ars.usda.gov. ---------- This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. * Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov. * ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD 20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax 504-1648. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From kstoner@caes.state.ct.us Wed Jun 23 21:41:54 1999 Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 16:28:22 -0400 From: Kimberly Stoner To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, Mark Subject: Re: Re:flea beetles [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Mark: There are hundreds of different species of flea beetles and most of them are very specialized in their selection of plants on which to feed. For example, in your organic garden, you probably have the crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae, which specializes on plants in the cabbage family. If you grow eggplant, you probably have the eggplant flea beetle, Epitrix fuscula, a specialist on eggplant and a few other species of solanaceous plants. You may also have the potato flea beetle, Epitrix cucumeris, also a specialist on Solanaceae. Thus, you shouldn't assume that the flea beetles on leafy spurge would be likely to feed on anything in your garden. You probably are not growing close relatives of this spurge in your garden. There is, however, a lively debate about the biological control of weeds, and whether the natural enemies of weeds have been adequately tested for their effects on all the closely related native plant species, including in some cases, endangered species of plants. I am surprised that they could do the distribution in the way described, because there is usually considerable paperwork involved in moving insects across state lines. Perhaps this species has reached the point where it has cleared the bureaucratic hurdles. -----Original Message----- From: Mark To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 3:57 PM Subject: Re:flea beetles >Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the same beetles that chomp up my >organic garden?? > >Mark >---------------------------------------------------- >Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) >An independent non-profit organization > >c/o Hampshire College >893 West Street >Amherst MA 01002-5001 >T: 413-559-5338 >F: 413-559-5404 > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From ruggierop@earthlink.net Thu Jun 24 00:20:34 1999 Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 22:09:27 -0400 From: Patricia Ruggiero To: Sustainable Agriculture Subject: FW: Re: flea beetles [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] I apologize if this is a second posting. I made some mistakes in the first transmission and the message came back. Pat -----Original Message----- From: Patricia Ruggiero [mailto:ruggierop@earthlink.net] Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 9:06 PM To: Sustainable Agriculture Cc: Organic Gardening Subject: Re: flea beetles The July/August 1999 issue of *Nature Conservancy* magazine has an article entitled *Double Agents: The Peril and Potential of Biological Control.* Flea beetles used against leafy spurge are discussed, and it is stated that *The beetles have demonstrated, in the language of the trade, selectivity -- the quality that often separates biocontrol's beauties from its beasties. It is a quality that may cost its seekers two to three years of overseas odysseys and extensive feeding experiments to find the bug that eats only what it is hired to eat. It is a prerequisite for release that in the past has not always been meticulously applied." I am reading the hard copy magazine. Their website is www.tnc.org The article doesn't say what the beetles do or where they go if their preferred food is not available. Pat -----Original Message----- From: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu [mailto:owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu]On Behalf Of Kimberly Stoner Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 4:28 PM To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu; Mark Subject: Re: Re:flea beetles Mark: There are hundreds of different species of flea beetles and most of them are very specialized in their selection of plants on which to feed. For example, in your organic garden, you probably have the crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae, which specializes on plants in the cabbage family. If you grow eggplant, you probably have the eggplant flea beetle, Epitrix fuscula, a specialist on eggplant and a few other species of solanaceous plants. You may also have the potato flea beetle, Epitrix cucumeris, also a specialist on Solanaceae. Thus, you shouldn't assume that the flea beetles on leafy spurge would be likely to feed on anything in your garden. You probably are not growing close relatives of this spurge in your garden. There is, however, a lively debate about the biological control of weeds, and whether the natural enemies of weeds have been adequately tested for their effects on all the closely related native plant species, including in some cases, endangered species of plants. I am surprised that they could do the distribution in the way described, because there is usually considerable paperwork involved in moving insects across state lines. Perhaps this species has reached the point where it has cleared the bureaucratic hurdles. -----Original Message----- From: Mark To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 3:57 PM Subject: Re:flea beetles >Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the same beetles that chomp up my >organic garden?? > >Mark >---------------------------------------------------- >Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) >An independent non-profit organization > >c/o Hampshire College >893 West Street >Amherst MA 01002-5001 >T: 413-559-5338 >F: 413-559-5404 > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From Pat_Elazar@cwb.ca Thu Jun 24 19:12:54 1999 Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 16:02:24 -0500 From: Pat Elazar To: Patricia Ruggiero Cc: Sustainable Agriculture Subject: Re: FW: Flea Beetles - leaf washing Up here, we are mostly bothered by flea beetles during very dry springs. So the leaf washing tactic makes some sense to me on brassicas anyways. I'd be real careful about any foliage wetting of nightshades tho- it might cause more problems with disease than it solves with pests. This season has been cold & rainy; cold & dry; hot & dry; AND hot & humid in successive weeks! Some local mkt gardeners had to spray early brocoli & cabbage transplants because of flea beetles & I saw graduate student's family plots at the university devastated but I didn't see any damage at all in my garden. We've been harvesting spinach & oriental fry greens since May 22, brocoli since June 14. I'd like to believe that the relative absence of pests in an otherwise troublesome year is due to the massive amount of soil improvement we've done here... On the other hand, It could just be dumb luck... "Patricia Ruggiero" on 06/24/99 02:26:47 PM To: "Sustainable Agriculture" cc: Subject: FW: Flea Beetles - Help!! Message #3 of 3 Pat -----Original Message----- From: Organic Gardening Discussion List [mailto:OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU] Sent: Monday, June 14, 1999 4:54 PM To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU Subject: Re: Flea Beetles - Help!! I don't think the DE will help with flea beetles. Here's what works for us: 1. set up a good sprinkler and drench the plants with plain old water 2 x per day. Or hose them off if you don't have a sprinkler. The flea beetles never seem to bother wet leaves. 2. Cover susceptible plants as soon as you plant them. We cover eggplant, collards, mustards, arugula, tatsoi with remay and SEAL all edges with soil. This works wonders with the greens. We had total success with eggplants, too. But you have to take the covers off for pollination. 3. Once the plants are big enough, they aren't bothered much by the flea beetles. Even potatoes that looked completely eaten did not seem to have a decrease in yield. 4. Rotenone would probably work, but I don't use it. Leslie Zuck Pa Certified Organic and Common Ground Farm In a message dated 6/14/99 8:33:02 PM, rbfarr@erols.com wrote: <> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From ruggierop@earthlink.net Thu Jun 24 22:58:01 1999 Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 15:26:47 -0400 From: Patricia Ruggiero To: Sustainable Agriculture Subject: FW: Flea Beetles - Help!! [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Message #3 of 3 Pat -----Original Message----- From: Organic Gardening Discussion List [mailto:OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU] Sent: Monday, June 14, 1999 4:54 PM To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU Subject: Re: Flea Beetles - Help!! I don't think the DE will help with flea beetles. Here's what works for us: 1. set up a good sprinkler and drench the plants with plain old water 2 x per day. Or hose them off if you don't have a sprinkler. The flea beetles never seem to bother wet leaves. 2. Cover susceptible plants as soon as you plant them. We cover eggplant, collards, mustards, arugula, tatsoi with remay and SEAL all edges with soil. This works wonders with the greens. We had total success with eggplants, too. But you have to take the covers off for pollination. 3. Once the plants are big enough, they aren't bothered much by the flea beetles. Even potatoes that looked completely eaten did not seem to have a decrease in yield. 4. Rotenone would probably work, but I don't use it. Leslie Zuck Pa Certified Organic and Common Ground Farm In a message dated 6/14/99 8:33:02 PM, rbfarr@erols.com wrote: <> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From Pat_Elazar@cwb.ca Thu Jun 24 23:00:34 1999 Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 16:02:24 -0500 From: Pat Elazar To: Patricia Ruggiero Cc: Sustainable Agriculture Subject: Re: FW: Flea Beetles - leaf washing Up here, we are mostly bothered by flea beetles during very dry springs. So the leaf washing tactic makes some sense to me on brassicas anyways. I'd be real careful about any foliage wetting of nightshades tho- it might cause more problems with disease than it solves with pests. This season has been cold & rainy; cold & dry; hot & dry; AND hot & humid in successive weeks! Some local mkt gardeners had to spray early brocoli & cabbage transplants because of flea beetles & I saw graduate student's family plots at the university devastated but I didn't see any damage at all in my garden. We've been harvesting spinach & oriental fry greens since May 22, brocoli since June 14. I'd like to believe that the relative absence of pests in an otherwise troublesome year is due to the massive amount of soil improvement we've done here... On the other hand, It could just be dumb luck... "Patricia Ruggiero" on 06/24/99 02:26:47 PM To: "Sustainable Agriculture" cc: Subject: FW: Flea Beetles - Help!! Message #3 of 3 Pat -----Original Message----- From: Organic Gardening Discussion List [mailto:OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU] Sent: Monday, June 14, 1999 4:54 PM To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU Subject: Re: Flea Beetles - Help!! I don't think the DE will help with flea beetles. Here's what works for us: 1. set up a good sprinkler and drench the plants with plain old water 2 x per day. Or hose them off if you don't have a sprinkler. The flea beetles never seem to bother wet leaves. 2. Cover susceptible plants as soon as you plant them. We cover eggplant, collards, mustards, arugula, tatsoi with remay and SEAL all edges with soil. This works wonders with the greens. We had total success with eggplants, too. But you have to take the covers off for pollination. 3. Once the plants are big enough, they aren't bothered much by the flea beetles. Even potatoes that looked completely eaten did not seem to have a decrease in yield. 4. Rotenone would probably work, but I don't use it. Leslie Zuck Pa Certified Organic and Common Ground Farm In a message dated 6/14/99 8:33:02 PM, rbfarr@erols.com wrote: <> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail