Phenological studies of Plutella xylostella and other cruciferous vegetable pests Project leader Laura Ozoliņa-Pole Team of project Guna Bundzēna Jānis Gailis Edīte Jākobsone Maksims Fiļipovičs Duration 2021 - 2024 Research focus 1. Implementation of the "One Health" concept and species interaction studies in the context of climate change Source of funding Ministry of Agriculture projects Project partners State Plant Protection Service of the Republic of LatviaSolvita Zeipiņa Description of project The aim of research To find out the possible increase in the number of Plutella xylostella generations that develop during the year, and thus the devastation, due to climate change-related volcanism in cabbage. The tasks of project: To monitor diamondback moth imagoTo count diamondback moth eggs on plantsTo evaluate larvae and their damage in cruciferous vegetable plantationsTo monitor other pests on cruciferous vegetables Results The development of the diamondback moth in Latvia is not synchronised; imago, larvae and pupae can occur in the same area, making it difficult to identify specific generations. The lack of synchronisation of development and data available in the literature indicate that it is possible that a large part of the Latvian diamondback moth population does not overwinter locally but dies in autumn, and that the Latvian territory is recolonised each spring by the diamondback moth from central Europe migrating with the prevailing south-westerly winds. The implication of this is that Latvia is likely to be recolonised by genetically different the diamondback moth each year, complicating efforts to control insecticide resistance. Data from 2021 to 2024 on the potential generation time varied from 21 to 37 days, and when the minimum temperature threshold for development and the sum of the required active temperatures above this threshold were calculated, they fell within the ranges described in the literature.
