Interested Members of the University Community are invited to attend the Final Oral Examination for the Degree of Master of Science of Josée Kelly of the Department of Plant Agriculture 

Date: Monday, September 25, 2023
Time: 1 PM
Location: Dupont Pioneer Com Boardroom, W.R. Reek Building, Ridgetown Campus and ZOOM
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/91707291152?pwd=RE9TaTYvdzFiRnk5d0tBZVg2VDRRQT09
Meeting ID: 917 0729 1152
Passcode: 852952

Thesis Title: Insecticide application timing in dry beans and degree day predictive models to improve the management of western bean cutworm in Ontario, Canada 

Advisory Committee
Dr. Joceline SMith, Co-Advisor
Chris Gillard, Co-Advisor
Dr. Cheryl Trueman

Examination Committee
Dr. Dave Hooker, Chair
Dr. Chris DiFonzo, External
Chris Gillard
Dr. Jocelyn Smith                                                                  

ABSTRACT 

Western bean cutworm (WBC; Striacosta albicosta (Smith; Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)) is a pest of corn (Zea mays L.) and edible dry beans (Phaseolus spp. L.) that was first detected in Ontario in 2008. WBC larvae feed directly on dry bean pods and seeds, leading to injury that can affect seed quality and yield loss. WBC is now established as a pest of dry beans in Ontario; however, WBC management remains challenging due to difficulties scouting and reliance on ineffective thresholds from the United States. The objectives of this research were designed to better predict and respond to the phenology and incidence of WBC in Ontario dry beans. In 2021 and 2022, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the most effective timing of insecticide application(s) to minimize dry bean injury with various levels of WBC infestation. Any level of WBC infestation in field experiments resulted in injury to navy beans. The results of these experiments indicated that an application of chlorantraniliprole (50 g a.i. ha-1) at 4–11 days after infestation may be the best strategy to minimize WBC feeding injury. Degree day (DD) models developed in Nebraska to predict WBC moth flights were tested and modified to improve the fit of these models using Ontario WBC pheromone trap data collected from 2019–2022. The best-approximation model incorporated crop, region, year, and Julian date into the existing Hanson et al. (2015) model to generate predictions for first and peak catch in specific crop-regions. The results of this research will be used to improve scouting and insecticide application timing for growers.