A new pest guide, Pocket Guide to Grass Seed Pests and Beneficials: Identification, Monitoring, Management, is available to help identify pests and formulate management practices.
It is a good resource to learn about insect biology, description, and what to expect in case of insect damage, how you can tell apart the look-alikes, as well as pest management recommendations.The guide is available online through the OSU catalog of resources, in print form and as an interactive app that growers and fieldmen can download on their phones. The print form comes in waterproof paper.
The guide includes categories on major pests, minor pests, and beneficial insects. It was written by former OSU entomologist Amy Dreves with help from several sources, including Kaur, retired entomologist Glenn Fisher, entomologist Silvia Rondon and Joe DeFrancesco, who ran OSU’s IR-4 program for many years.
Kaur said that when she came to OSU in 2019, she made it a priority to get the guide completed and in the hands of growers and fieldmen. Field crops Extension agent Nicole Anderson helped in moving the project forward, Kaur said.
“Because there are so many look-alikes in any one cropping system, telling apart the pest species from the beneficials, particularly, is really important,” Kaur said.
She added that she regularly gets calls requesting insect identification.
Funding for the guide was provided by the Oregon grass seed commissions and the Oregon Seed Council.
The guide is expected to be available for free at grower meetings, including at this December’s Seed League meeting in Salem.
“I believe this will be a helpful resource, especially for young fieldmen. When they have a question about insect identification, they can refer to the pictures,” she said. “The pictures that we use in the guide are very high-resolution.”
The guide can be accessed online by going to https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/em9318