Insecticide Seed Treatments and Sprays for Hessian Fly

— Written By and last updated by Carol Hicks
en Español / em Português
Español

El inglés es el idioma de control de esta página. En la medida en que haya algún conflicto entre la traducción al inglés y la traducción, el inglés prevalece.

Al hacer clic en el enlace de traducción se activa un servicio de traducción gratuito para convertir la página al español. Al igual que con cualquier traducción por Internet, la conversión no es sensible al contexto y puede que no traduzca el texto en su significado original. NC State Extension no garantiza la exactitud del texto traducido. Por favor, tenga en cuenta que algunas aplicaciones y/o servicios pueden no funcionar como se espera cuando se traducen.


Português

Inglês é o idioma de controle desta página. Na medida que haja algum conflito entre o texto original em Inglês e a tradução, o Inglês prevalece.

Ao clicar no link de tradução, um serviço gratuito de tradução será ativado para converter a página para o Português. Como em qualquer tradução pela internet, a conversão não é sensivel ao contexto e pode não ocorrer a tradução para o significado orginal. O serviço de Extensão da Carolina do Norte (NC State Extension) não garante a exatidão do texto traduzido. Por favor, observe que algumas funções ou serviços podem não funcionar como esperado após a tradução.


English

English is the controlling language of this page. To the extent there is any conflict between the English text and the translation, English controls.

Clicking on the translation link activates a free translation service to convert the page to Spanish. As with any Internet translation, the conversion is not context-sensitive and may not translate the text to its original meaning. NC State Extension does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text. Please note that some applications and/or services may not function as expected when translated.

Collapse ▲

Chances are you’ve already made the decision about whether to include an insecticidal seed treatment. Now it’s important to know what you can expect out of it. This article will cover insecticidal seed treatments first and then sprays for Hessian fly. If you want more extensive coverage of all our recommendations and fly biology, they can be found in Biology and Management of Hessian Fly in the Southeast, the Small Grain Production Guide, or this video. Also, there is no fly-free plant date in North Carolina. Flies are active anytime we have enough warm days in a row throughout the fall, winter and spring. That being said, there are fewer flies in the colder months and later plantings are less at risk.

Insecticidal seed treatments

1) Varietal susceptibility is the key to Hessian fly management. The more you make a seed treatment do the heavy lifting over top a susceptible variety, the more failure you can expect. See a list of high yielding varieties with Hessian fly resistance ratings (if known). We can also lump other factors into this category. If you no-till, plant near last year’s soybeans double cropped behind wheat, plant earlier than the recommended planting window, etc., you will be putting more pressure on your seed treatment.

2) Rates make a huge difference. We did extensive testing with an insecticidal seed treatment in 2010 and 2011. Higher rates worked well to kill Hessian fly. Both Cruiser and Gaucho work seemed to work well at the highest labeled rates. Some insecticidal seed treatment rates are not labeled high enough for good Hessian fly control. Be sure you know what rate you are getting from your dealer as there is a labeled range for Hessian fly. Scott Stewart, U. of Tennessee, has an excellent recent article about this from the perspective of aphids.

Foliar Sprays

Hessian flies generally lay their eggs between the veins on the top sides of leaves.

Hessian flies generally lay their eggs between the veins on the top sides of leaves.

1) You need to meet the following four conditions to make a spray pay: 1) planted wheat early (during October); 2) have historical pressure; 3) planted a susceptible variety (see list); 4) have not used an insecticidal seed treatment and are not past the 2 leaf stage. The best time to spray is when eggs are first present, but these are difficult to see and the timing of flights varies with weather. Some consultants and scouts are trained to find them, but I’m not sure that even then we would do much good with our sprays since they are timed at adults. Could you find the Hessian fly egg in the photo?

2) Time your spray correctly. If you wait to spray beyond the two leaf stage and you have damaging levels Hessian fly, you’ve lost yield. The graph below demonstrates the effect of seed treatments and insecticidal sprays on Hessian fly eggs. The first spray was initiated 3-4 weeks following planting. Sprays did not reduce the number of eggs. Spray timing is critical for success. The earlier the spray, the better it will work.

Eggs per tiller with untreated and insecticide treated seed with and without a foliar insecticide spray. Arrows denote spray date.

Eggs per tiller with untreated and insecticide treated seed with and without a foliar insecticide spray. Arrows denote spray date.

3) You will get more bang for your buck out of a seed treatment for Hessian fly control. In the past, we’ve only seen less than 20 days effectiveness from seed treatments. I’m more confident in longer residual for seed treatments given our experimental results and using the highest labeled rates. So you should only consider the spray as a rescue treatment, last-ditch effort.

The visual benefit of an insecticide seed treatment for Hessian fly.

The visual benefit of an insecticide seed treatment for Hessian fly.

4) Pyrethroids seem to work the best to reduce egg number. Graph below.

Note: Quilt Xcel and Headline are fungicides with no activity on Hessian fly. Endigo ZC is lambda-cyhalothrin + thiamethoxam, Warrior II (Karate Z) is lambda-cyhalothrin, Baythroid XL is beta-cyfluthrin, Tombstone is cyfluthrin (active on Hessian fly), and Cobalt Advanced is lamda-cyhalothrin + chlorpyrifos.

Note: Quilt Xcel and Headline are fungicides with no activity on Hessian fly. Endigo ZC is lambda-cyhalothrin + thiamethoxam, Warrior II (Karate Z) is lambda-cyhalothrin, Baythroid XL is beta-cyfluthrin, Tombstone is cyfluthrin (active on Hessian fly), and Cobalt Advanced is lamda-cyhalothrin + chlorpyrifos.