Lucerne aphis at Lincoln

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34106, 19 March 1976, Page 14

Lucerne aphis at Lincoln

The blue-green lucerne aphis was found on Wednesday tn three places in the LincolnSpringston area.

The aphis was found on Lincoln College’s Ashley Dene farm, on a Springston farm, and on lucerne trial areas at Lincoln.

Since its discovery in the Auckland province in October the aphis has become widespread in the North Island, and has been reported in Marlborough.

In Canterbury it is present only in small numbers, and appears to be restricted to small areas within the affected paddocks. The regional advisory officer of die Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr D. G. Reynolds, said yesterdax that the Ministry would not make any recommendations for control of the anhis until it had been determined how widespread the problem was

Dr A. D. Lowe, officer-in-charge of the Lincoln station of the Entomology Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, said yesterday that he thought the aphis should be regarded reriously. Dr Lowe believes that the aphis is a new introduction. Although it has not been officially recorded in Australia, the possibility of its having come across the Tasman is not ruled out. Dr Lowe said that a large number of organisms crossed the Taman Sea.

If it is a recent introduc-; tion, a factor of critical importance for the future will be whether it can survive the winter, particularly in the South Island. If it does. Dr Lowe says, control procedures for it will probablv have to be worked out. He says that normal systemic sprays can be used to control it, but account must be taken of restrictions relating to subsequent feeding of stock. Dr Lowe says that the aphis is a large one. It is green and in the immature stage it has a waxy bloom. In the United States it is called the blue alfalfa (lucerne) aphis, to distinguish it from a more serious pest, the spotted aphis.