Project Overview

Reports

Commodities

• Agronomic: medics/alfalfa

Target Pests

Practices

• Pest Management: monitoring/scouting, prevention

• Animal Production: feed/forage

1. i) Problem or opportunity

The rationale for this project was the discovery of a new pest in alfalfa, a larva of a crane fly (Diptera: Tipulidae) (Villanueva, unpublished). The larva of this insect called leatherjacket caused severe damage to alfalfa in Kentucky in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Dr. J. Dupuis cooperator in this project using DNA-based identification and available sequences on public databases, identify this as a native species, Tipula paterifera. This new pest represents a common challenge in pest management in which new pests are found, but effective management reaction is limited by a lack of identification tools, and biological and ecological information. Prior to these observations, no tipulids have been reported to cause significant damage to alfalfa. Because this new insect pest affects alfalfa growth in the spring, feeding on crown buds and axillary buds, this pest may impact first alfalfa cut on early spring. The observed damage affected all parts of the plants; lateral roots were completely consumed, as well as the foliage, crowns, and stems, and causing 25 to 100 losses in the spring cut. The severity of these injuries during three consecutive years, make us believe that this is not a sporadic episode. Rather a potentially an adaptative change on the feeding behavior. Given the eventual identification of this pest as T. paterifera, we may be observing the process of a host switch from native plants to a high value crop such alfalfa.

1. ii) Approach,

Objective 1. Biological, behavioral and phenological studies of this new pest will be completed in several counties of KY and the UKY-Research and Education Center at Princeton (Caldwell Co.). Other tests will be carried out in the laboratories at the UKY-REC facility. Starting in early March, farms will be visited biweekly to collect information on larval presence and population abundances in fields. Flooding soil, and soil cores methods will be used to conduct tallies of this pest in from March to May. Larval samples will be collected and taken to the laboratory from April to May to conduct more specific studies that include rearing this species under different soil moisture regimes, some of these species go into quiescence during summer month without eating anything. Larvae will be collected from other counties for sequencing purposes. Adults will be collected since September and morphological and DNA sequencing will also be completed. Data collection, processing and analyses will be conducted to write reports and presentations.

Objective 2.     Results of this project will be summarized and presented on distinct multidisciplinary events. An extension publication will be prepared as traditional printed material or digitalized posts for easy use of farmers. At least one presentation will be conducted at the Entomological Society of America and one in the Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference at the end of Year 1.

iii) Anticipated impact.

This new leatherjacket pest caused severe damages to roots, foliage and crowns of alfalfa plants and entire fields in KY, and historical records on this pest are not found anywhere else. If this proposal is funded, this amount can be used as seed grant to obtain further funding to conduct more in deep work in this new pest and preventive measures can be planned in an eventual large occurrence of this pest in alfalfa, a high value forage, with more than 2. 2 millions of acres in KY and surrounding states and may impact other regions of the USA. If the latter occurred, preventive tools can be generated based on the results obtained here.

1. To study the biology, behavior, phenology, and geographical range of a new pest of alfalfa in Kentucky and neighboring alfalfa fields in TN.
2.  To produce graphics for the identification of the pest and the damages it causes in alfalfa and to disseminate the information obtained in this project to alfalfa producers in Kentucky, and surrounding states using digital, printed, and social media systems.