Re: IRIS-L digest 600


Dorothy Fingerhood said:

<< Anyone out there have any more detailed information on the iris borer?  Is
 it a European import, like many of our pestiferous insects? >>

I remembered seeing some early studies on borers, done at Cornell University,
published in some of the early AIS Bulletins.  The following quotes are from
AIS Bulletin # 32, July 29.  The article is "Science Series No. 5 : Two Iris
Insects" by Donald T. Ries.

He wrote: "The Iris Borer belongs to the family Noctuidae, a family of
night-flying moths, the same group in which the cut-worms are found.  This is
apparently purely a New World insect as there are no records of it occurring
in foreign countries. 
***


Someone previously said that the borer we know and abhor has but one set
of progeny per year (didn't someone say that??)

I read an article in yesterday's Buffalo News about heating degree days. I
already know that Integrated Pest Management uses heating degree days to 
determine the life cycles of various pests and when pesticides or other
management techniques work best.

Does anyone know how the borer relates to heating degree days?? The article
also says that because of the cold in this area, we might have skipped
 or-- "The good news is that some undesirable insects may not only be
late emerging but also reduced in numbers> Some folks are monitoring the
elm beetles in Buffalo. I wonder if we should be monitoring the borers here??

If we knew the heating degree days in which the eggs hatch, and when they
are active, we could be more effective with cygon --->??

By the way, as of the writing of this article, on May 21, Buffalo had had only 
48 heating degree days, compared with 133 last year and 163 the year before!!

Farmers are surely feeling it!  My wisteria, usually at peak bloom on May 17,
has not begun to show color!!

Carolyn Schaffner in Buffalo, NY where we've seen the sun for four days in
a row!!
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