Perennia is continuing the strawberry aphid monitoring project this season. Strawberry aphids are the primary vector of the strawberry viruses (strawberry mild yellow edge virus and strawberry mottle virus) found in Nova Scotia, and by monitoring the aphid we aim to prevent further spread of viruses in the province. The risk of new infection is highest during the strawberry aphid flight period when winged aphids can move large distances to new fields and spread infection. As of last week's aphid trapping and monitoring we found our first winged strawberry aphids. Because of this it is crucial to continue to monitor and scout for winged and wingless strawberry aphids in your fields.
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| Winged strawberry aphid (scale 1mm) |
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| Adult strawberry aphid (scale 1mm) |
To prevent virus spread it is important to protect new plantings by controlling aphids in established fruiting fields. Seeing that we are in the midst of harvest there are limited products available for fruiting fields but there are a few tools with short (0 day or 1 day) pre-harvest intervals. For information on control options please see Strawberry Management Guide 2019.