1. Insect
  2. Legume, Grass, and Field Seed Crops
  3. Canola Pests

Canola-Diamondback moth

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Plutella xylostella

Pest description and crop damage Adult diamondback moths are small gray or brown moths. Males have three diamond-shaped markings on the back of the forewing when the wings are folded together. Females lay eggs singly or in small clusters of two to eight. Newly hatched larvae are light green and turn darker green with maturation. Plant injury is caused entirely by larvae that show two distinct feeding patterns depending on their age. Young larvae are leaf miners, while older larvae feed externally and cause leaf defoliation, aborted flowers, and damaged seed pods and stems. The economic threshold at early flowering stage is 10 to 15 larvae per square foot (or one to two larvae per plant), and at pod stage increases to 20 to 30 larvae per square foot (or two to three larvae per plant). The best pest management practices to prevent losses from diamondback moth on canola include early monitoring of adults and larvae, and limiting use of insecticides to only those fields that reach economic thresholds.

Management-Chemical control

  • azadirachtin (Azasol, AzaGuard and others) spray at 0.018 to 0.035 lb if ai/A in 50 gal water/A when pests first appear. Repeat application 5 to 7 days if required. Do not use with oil. OMRI-listed for organic use.
  • Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. kurstaki strain SA-11 (JavelinWG) at 0.12 to 1.5 lb ai/A. PHI 0 days. REI 4 hr. Acts slowly; may need multiple applications. Add an appropriate spreader-sticker to enhance control. Most effective on small larvae. Some formulations are OMRI-listed for organic use.
  • Beauveria bassiana GHA (Mycotrol ESO, Mycotrol ES, BotaniGard ES and BoteGHA ES) at 0.50 to 1 quart/100 gal of spray volume. Apply at 5- to 10-day intervals. High insect populations may require 2- to 5-day intervals. This product may be applied up to the day of harvest. REI 4 hr. Mycotrol ESO contains live spores of the naturally occurring fungus Beauveria bassiana strain GHA. Spores are alive and may be harmed by storage at high temperatures or contact with water for more than 24 hr. OMRI-listed for organic use.
  • bifenthrin (Batallion 10 WSP, Bifenture 10DF, Bifender FC, Brigade WSB and others) at 0.033 to 0.04 lb ai/A. Apply in a minimum of 2 gal finished spray per acre by air or a minimum of 10 gal per acre with ground equipment. Do not apply more than 0.08 lb active ingredient (12.8 oz formulated) per acre per season. Do not make applications less than 14 days apart. Do not apply within 35 days of harvest.
  • bifenthrin; zeta-cypermethrin (Hero EW) at 0.04 to 0.053 lb ai/A. Do not exceed 0.053 lb ai/A per application. Do not apply more than 0.265 lb ai/A of product per season. Do not apply within 35 days of harvest. Do not make applications less than 14 days apart. Apply at a minimum of 10 gal water by ground and 2 gal by air.
  • Burkholderia spp. strain a396 (Venerate XC) at 1 to 4 quarts/A product. PHI 0 days. REI 4 hr. OMRI-listed for organic use.
  • chlorantraniliprole [Coragen (FMC), Vantacore, Prevathon] at 0.045 to 0.098 lb ai/A. REI 4 hr. PHI 1 day. Do not exceed 0.2 lb ai of chlorantraniliprole-containing products per acre per year. Make no more than 4 applications per acre per year (Group 28). Performance is improved with the addition of a Methylated Seed Oil (MSO) adjuvant at 1 gal per 100 gal of spray volume (1% v/v). Do not make more than two sequential applications of Group 28 before rotating to another registered insecticide with different mode-of-action.
  • chlorantraniliprole, lambda-cyhalothrin (Besiege) at 5.0 to 10.0 fl oz/A or 0.049 to 0.098 lb ai/A. PHI 21 days. Do not exceed a total of 28.0 fl oz of Besiege or 0.09 lb ai of lambda-cyhalothrin-containing products or 0.2 lb ai of chlorantraniliprole-containing products per acre per year. Make no more than 4 applications per acre per crop. Only use non-ionic surfactant (NIS) Washington only.
  • Chromobacterium subtsugae (Grandevo) at 1 to 3 lb/A. PHI 0 days. REI 4 hr. OMRI-listed for organic use.
  • cyantraniliprole (Exirel) at 0.045 to 0.088 lb ai/A or 7 to 13.5 fluid oz/A. PHI 7 days. REI 12 hr. Minimum application interval between treatments is 7 days. Do not apply a total of more than 0.4 lb ai/A per calendar year.
  • deltamethrin (Delta Gold) at 0.009 lb ai/A or 0.8 fl oz/A. Do not apply more than 1.5 fl oz of Delta Gold per acre on canola in one growing season. Allow 7 days between applications. Do not apply within 7 days of harvest. When applying by air, apply a minimum of 2 gal water per acre and 5 gal water by ground.
  • gamma-cyhalothrin (Declare) at 0.0075 to 0.015 lb ai/A or 0.77 to 1.54 fl oz/A. PHI 7 days. Minimum interval between applications is 5 days. Do not apply more than 0.045 lb ai per acre per season. Do not apply within 7 days of harvest. When applying by air, apply a minimum of 2 gal water per acre.

lambda-cyhalothrin (LambdaStar Plus) at 0.015 to 0.03 lb ai/A or 0.96 to 1.92 fl oz/A. Do not apply within 7 days of harvest. Do not apply more than 0.09 lb ai (0.36 pint) per acre per year. Apply in a minimum of 10 gal per acre for ground applications or 2 gal per acre for air applications.

zeta-cypermethrin (Mustang Maxx) at 4 fl. oz/A or 0.025 lb ai/A. PHI 7 days. Do not apply more than 24 oz of product or 0.15 lb of active ingredient per acre per season. Do not make applications less than 7 days apart.