FARM ADVISORS

Effects of Transplant Tray Drench Application of Insecticides for Bagrada

Bug Control in Broccoli
Shimat V. Josepha,DQ*UHWWHQEHUJHUb, and Larry Godfreyb
a
University of California Cooperative Extension, Salinas, CA
b
'HSDUWPHQWRI(QWRPRORJ\DQG1HPDWRORJ\8QLYHUVLW\RI&DOLIRUQLD'DYLV

B
agrada bug (Bagrada hilaris) (Fig. 1) is a serious pest
on Brassica crops in the Central Coast of California.
This pest is native to old world countries of southern
Africa, Middle East and Asia. It was first detected in North
America in 2008 in Los Angeles Co., California and is now
established in the Central Coast of California. Broccoli
and cauliflower are important crops grown in this region.
Serious economic injury occurs on these crops when
bagrada bug feeding kills the apical meristematic tissue
of the young seedlings, creating a “blind head” (plant
without a head), or when feeding triggers production of
multiple adventitious shoots, causing plants to produce
unmarketable, undersized broccoli and cauliflower heads.
On some plants, severe feeding during early stages of plant
growth depletes the nutrient reserves and causes stunting.
Bagrada bug feeding injury on leaves appears as starbursts
Fig. 1.%DJUDGDEXJDGXOWVDQGQ\PSKVIHHGLQJRQEURFFROLOHDYHV
on leaf surfaces.
All photos by Shimat Joseph.
Management of bagrada bug primarily relies on
pyrethroid and neonicotinoid insecticides and growers seedling trays with insecticide is a precise application
sometimes resort to multiple sprays of these insecticides tactic in which the insecticide dose is placed directly onto
for adequate control. Although potential biological control the transplant plugs before transplanting. Thus, a study
agents are actively sought in the native range in Asia, was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of insecticides
their importation and subsequent field release in the against bagrada bug when delivered as a seedling tray
Central Coast will take several years. Until sustainable drench before planting in 2015.
tactics are developed and readily available, chemical Experiments were conducted in both greenhouse
control will remain the primary tool for management in and field settings using systemic and non-systemic
conventionally managed vegetable production. Drenching insecticides (Table 1). In all experiments, we used the
maximum label rate of
Table 1.,QVHFWLFLGHVHYDOXDWHGIRUEDJUDGDEXJPDQDJHPHQWLQERWKJUHHQKRXVHDQGÀHOG insecticides and calculated
experiments dose per seedling based on
Tested rate this rate and standard plant
Class Insecticide
(formulation per acre) density per acre. Each seedling
Neonicotinoid Acetamiprid*‡ 4 oz in the tray received 2-mL
Clothianidin*‡ 12 fl oz of insecticide solution (Fig.
Dinotefuran*‡ 6 fl oz 2). The seedlings were then
Imidacloprid* 10.5 fl oz
exposed after transplanting
Thiamethoxam*‡ 3.67 oz
to bagrada bug adults in cages
Neonicotinoid + Diamide Thiamethoxam + 13 fl oz
for greenhouse experiments
Chlorantraniliprole*‡
Neonicotinoid + Pyrethroid Imidacloprid + Beta-cyfluthrin*‡ 6 fl oz and natural bagrada bug
Organophosphate Chlorpyrifos*‡ 2.4 fl oz /1000 ft row populations in the field
Pyrethroid Bifenthrin*‡ 6.8 fl oz experiment. A scale system
Pyridazinone Tolfenpyrad*‡ 21 fl oz (0 to 4) was used to evaluate
Pyridinecarboxamide Flonicamid*‡ 2.84 oz the severity of bagrada bug
Ryanodine receptor Cyantraniliprole*‡ 13.5 fl oz feeding injury on leaves where
activator 0 = no injury and 4 = >75% of
Cyclaniliprole*‡ 22 fl oz the leaf margins with bagrada
Spinosyn Spinetoram*‡ 10 fl oz bug feeding injury. We
* Insecticides used in greenhouse experiment. evaluated damage using the
‡ Insecticides used in field experiment. rating system, percentage of

34 CAPCA ADVISER | OCTOBER 2016

damaged leaves, and number of feeding injury sites.
In the greenhouse experiment, the percentage
injured leaves was substantially lower than the
untreated when the transplants were treated with the
neonicotinoids clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid,
and thiamethoxam (Fig. 3A). Compared to the untreated
plants, the number of feeding injury sites (Fig. 3B) and
rating on leaves (Fig. 3C) were lower on transplants
treated with dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid,
thiamethoxam, acetamiprid, thiamethoxam +
chlorantraniliprole, imidacloprid + ਟ-cyfluthrin,
and cyclaniliprole. Cyclaniliprole, in addition to
neonicotinoids and bifenthrin, also had significantly
lower feeding injury ratings than untreated.
In the field experiment, the number of feeding
injury sites was significantly lower with clothianidin,
dinotefuran, acetamiprid, thiamethoxam, thiamethoxam
+ chlorantraniliprole, imidacloprid + ਟ-cyfluthrin,
Fig. 2.6HHGOLQJWUD\GUHQFKDSSOLFDWLRQDGPLQLVWHUHGXVLQJD
and bifenthrin than with untreated (Figs. 4 and 5A).
V\ULQJHLQWKLVVWXG\
Cyclaniliprole, in addition to neonicotinoids and
bifenthrin, also had significantly lower feeding injury
ratings than untreated (Fig. 5B).
These results demonstrate that drenching transplant
plugs with neonicotinoid insecticides, and in particular
acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid,
and thiamethoxam, reduces bagrada bug feeding damage
and promotes normal plant growth (Fig 4). We also tested
non-neonicotinoid systemic insecticides as tray drenches
including cyantraniliprole and cyclaniliprole, as well
as contact insecticides, such as flonicamid, spinetoram,
tolfenpyrad, and bifenthrin, but most did not consistently
affect bagrada bug damage. The contact insecticides
were tested in addition to systemic insecticides because
these insecticides are commonly used as foliar sprays for
various insect pests, including bagrada bug on Brassica
crops, although positive results were not expected.
The efficacy of tray drench application for broccoli
suggests that this application method could be useful for
bagrada bug management in other Brassica crops, and
in particular, cauliflower. The insecticide dose received
by each transplant plug was based upon the number of
plants per acre, which is related to plant spacing, number
of rows per bed, and width of a bed. As the number of
plants transplanted in an acre decreases, the amount of
insecticide received per plug will increase. In the Central
Coast, cauliflower is planted at a greater spacing than
broccoli, and only one row of cauliflower is typically
planted per bed rather than the two rows used for broccoli
in the same-sized bed. This suggests that if the same Fig. 3.$1XPEHURIOHDYHVLQMXUHGE\EDJUDGDEXJ%IHHGLQJ
overall rate of insecticide is used at the field level, each LQMXU\VLWHVDQG&PHDQIHHGLQJLQMXU\UDWLQJRQWKHOHDYHVDIWHU
cauliflower transplant will receive a larger insecticide VHHGOLQJWUD\GUHQFKZLWKLQVHFWLFLGHVLQJUHHQKRXVHH[SHULPHQW
dose than broccoli transplants because of the lower %DUVZLWKWKHVDPHOHWWHUVDUHQRWVLJQLÀFDQWO\GLIIHUHQWP > 0.05).
number of plants per acre. Our results show that bagrada
bug was adequately controlled by the neonicotinoid
insecticides when applied to broccoli transplants. Thus,
cauliflower transplants, which would receive a higher
dose than broccoli at the same per acre rate, should

36 CAPCA ADVISER | OCTOBER 2016

perform even better. Future research will investigate
the efficacy of lower rates of neonicotinoid insecticides,
and in particular dinotefuran and clothianidin, against
bagrada bug in cauliflower. We may be able to still
achieve sufficient control of bagrada bug in cauliflower by
reducing the amount of insecticide applied on a per-acre
basis compared to broccoli, but keeping the rate the same
at the individual transplant level.
Although application of systemic insecticides as a
seedling tray drench would provide benefits for managing
B. hilaris, the only product registered for seedling tray
drench to date on Brassica crops is cyantraniliprole.
Application as a tray drench is not yet a registered use for
neonicotinoid insecticides. Factors such as water volume,
time of application, and insecticide properties for tray
drenching may influence the efficacy of insecticides.
The water volume used to apply the insecticides may be
critical for placement of insecticides in the root zone of
the plug. The quantity of solution should be low enough
that it will not leach from the plug, which would waste
insecticide and increase waste management problems.
In this study, the ideal water volume was determined
after a series of preliminary experiments to identify
the maximum volume of insecticide solution that
could be applied without leaching loss. The insecticide
Fig. 4.,QVHFWLFLGHWUHDWPHQWHIIHFWVGD\VDIWHUWUDQVSODQWLQJ
solution in this study was also injected using a syringe
Arrows show some of the neonicotinoid insecticides treated
rather than sprayed with overhead sprinklers (Fig 2).
plants and the untreated plant.
In a commercial setting, the seedlings in the trays will
likely be chemigated, and both the foliage and roots will
be exposed to insecticides. The amount of insecticide
solution received per seedling will depend on the set-up
of the system, frequency, and pressure of the irrigation
events. In this study, the interval between tray drench
and transplanting was not uniform, although effective
insecticides had activity within a time period of 0-3 weeks
between insecticide application and transplant.
In conclusion, this study clearly shows that
neonicotinoid insecticides were very effective against
bagrada bug as a systemic application through a tray
drench. Drenching transplant plugs with neonicotinoid
insecticides protected plants from bagrada bug feeding
beyond five weeks, which is the most vulnerable phase of
crop development to bagrada bug feeding and injury. This
suggests that if neonicotinoid insecticides are registered
for this application method, it could reduce the need for
multiple applications of foliar insecticides beginning at
plant emergence. Cauliflower is 100% transplanted in
the Central Coast while broccoli is ~95% transplanted in
the southern half of the California, so tray drenches with
neonicotinoids could provide a vital tool to help protect
these crops from bagrada bug.

Acknowledgments
We appreciate the technical assistance provided by
J. Martinez, C. Ramirez, C. Bettiga, E. Bejarano, J. Zarate,
R. Ahedo, G. Reyes and G. Fletcher for data collection. Fig. 5. $1XPEHURIIHHGLQJLQMXU\OHVLRQVIURPEDJUDGD
This research was supported by several agro-chemical EXJDQG%LQMXU\UDWLQJDIWHUVHHGOLQJWUD\GUHQFKLQWKHÀHOG
H[SHULPHQW%DUVZLWKWKHVDPHOHWWHUVDUHQRWVLJQLÀFDQWO\
different (P > 0.05).
38 CAPCA ADVISER | OCTOBER 2016
companies and a 2014 California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) Specialty Crop Block Grant.
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40 CAPCA ADVISER | OCTOBER 2016
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