The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is urging grain growers to inspect paddocks for caterpillars after increasing reports of native budworm in a range of crops.
Entomologist at the Department, Dustin Severtson said cereal growers should not panic if they observed native budworm, as crop damage was likely to be limited, but pulse, canola and lupin growers should take action.
“While pest numbers may be high in cereals, they often decline rapidly when their preferred host disappears,” Dr Severtson said.
“In experiments with native budworm and wheat we found the caterpillars actually preferred to eat each other rather than the plant, which shows they don’t want to eat cereals.”
However, he said there had been widespread reports of native budworm in traditional host crops causing extensive damage, so investing in spray treatments was worthwhile.
Dr Severtson said it was the third consecutive year native budworm had caused feeding damage to cereals, most likely due to the presence of wild radish and volunteer hosts when moths laid eggs, as well as cyclone activity in breeding areas of the rangelands in February.
“Budworm moth presence has been building and the numbers have been super high this year, particularly in pulse and lupin crops,” Dr Severtson said.
“I’ve never seen numbers as high as this in my 14 years with the Department.”
He said Budworm had arrived in Western Australian crops much earlier than usual this year and growers should prepare for another wave in the next few weeks.
