Insect emergence timetable

Is anyone aware of a searchable online database that lists the emergence times (by zone) for various insects? I am particularly concerned with cabbage maggots which made a mess of my turnips this year. Obviously too late for this year but I thought if I could time my planting next year I might be able to minimize the problem. Another problem I have is squash vine borers.

Thanks for any help
HenBar

i would think so much would depend on the climactic conditions of each year. when you are talking in general terms, that's one thing, but an actual timing of certain bugs hatching, boy, that might be tough to find actual data on and then you would have to average it out anyway, depending on cold or warm spring, number of predators in an area, rainfall, etc. good luck with it though. maybe someone will have an exact answer for you here.

trackinsand:

Thanks for the reply. I have a rather old book, "The Encyclopedia of Natural Insect & Disease Control" published by Rodale Press in 1984 (at least that is the copyright date) which does have a small listing of insect emergence times, I was hoping for something more extensive but so far have not been able to find anything.

You are correct, there are a lot of factors that would influence this data but I thought that with the use of computers to compile the information that some organization might have gathered some data that would have some average times. Another approach might be a rather loose listing, instead of dates maybe "mid April, or early June" or possibly something using other times a reference for example "when lilacs bloom, or when crocus bloom".

I guess I will keep looking. Thanks again
Hank

This message was edited Jul 6, 2007 6:14 AM

another thing you might consider is using an organic control ahead of time (before you see any critters). diatomaceous earth dusted on your vegis would be one great way of deterring pests and it's harmless.

Maybe give that a shot next year (too late now), do you think that will work on squash vine borers?

it will work on any soft-bodied insect or slug that crawls across it. it shreds them to ribbons. the only downside is that water renders it useless so you have to re-apply after a rain or watering. the good thing is that it is more widely available now that people are getting wise to how well it works. make sure to get garden grade, not pool grade.

HenBar/Hank:

What you are after is known as a phenological calendar. This describes the coincidental cyclical occurrences of natural events in unrelated species.

One of the first books I acquired when I worked as a horticulturist/landscape manager was COINCIDE, by Donald A. Orton (1989). This spoke to timing pest management with ornamental plant development (this is written right on the cover!).

So...to answer your question fully, I was perusing page 1 of this text. Fancy finding this there:

I'm sure it was just coincidental that a vegetable pest note was included in this book specifically targeted at woody plants. I'm also sure that the Cooperative Extension Service in the great state of NY has all the info you will ever need in dealing with most any vegetable pest. I'd check with Cornell's website here: http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/index.html

There might be one or two ideas there. I did a search using "phenology" on this site, and here's another tidbit:

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/weather/gdd.html

Good luck, and fight the good fight.

Am I wearing you out yet?

Here's a chart comparing activities of a variety of vegetable pests:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/vegcalendar.asp

I see the squash vine borer in there. With more diligent searching than I can manage (on dialup) I bet there's a site more tuned to NY.

Although the data is in an extremely raw form, I bet you could learn a lot by looking at postings here, and the Bug and Insect ID forum. Certain insects definitely come in waves.

V V, for a second there you had me wondering about bumps on people's heads. Maybe time for a self-exam.

The value in phenology is that you can plan ahead of the tsunami.

Who was that famous guy, that as a child was scrutinized by a phrenologist?

P. T. Barnum?

Thomas Alva Edison?

Hmmmm....

Thanks for the tips, I did a quick check at the Cornell.edu site and found something that looks interesting by plugging in phenological in their search box. I will persue this in more depth now that I have a term to use. (I admit that when I first saw the word in your post I thought you were going to tell me to count the bumps on the vine borer's head)

Search engines are wonderful things as long as you plug in the right word/phrase, now that I have that I will be busy for quite a while.

Thanks again to everyone
Hank

ViburnumValley, Is the textbook Coincide: The Orton System of Pest Management still available? If so, where can I get it, do you know?

Joseph

This text doesn't seem to be available at Amazon, but with my slow dialup I didn't search further.

Here's how you might search for it (maybe contact the publisher as well):

Orton, Donald A. Coincide: The Orton System of Pest Management. Flossmoor, Illinois: Plantsrnen's Publications, 1989.

Plantsrnen's Publications
Box 1
Flossmoor, Illinois 60422

That's the best I can do. By googling, it sure puts up a lot of hits as a reference.

Thanks, I will write to the publisher. Amazon didn't have it and I didn't find where it was being sold elsewhere.

Have any of you ever tried half.com? It is a division of eBay but it works just like an online bookstore. The cool thing about their site is that you search for what you're looking for and even if someone doesn't have it in stock right then you can add it to a Wish List and get emails when it becomes available. I've saved a ton of money using their site.

I will check there too, thanks for the lead, garden_mom!