Invertebrate pests of canola and their management in Australia: a review

In Australia, canola is subject to attack by at least 30 species of invertebrate pests, although the composition of this pest complex can vary between regions. Mites (e.g. the redlegged earth mite Halotydeus destructor and the blue oat mites Penthaleus spp.), lucerne flea (Sminthurus viridis) and false wireworms (e.g. the grey false wireworm Isopteron punctatissimus and the bronzed field beetle Adelium brevicorne) are the major pests threatening the seedling establishment, whereas aphids (the cabbage aphid Brevicoryne brassicae, the turnip aphid Lipaphis erysimi and the green peach aphid Myzus persicae), the native budworm (Helicoverpa punctigera), the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and the Rutherglen bug (Nysius vinitor) can cause irregular and unpredictable damage to the flowering and podding plants. Current tactics of pest management for canola rely largely on the use of synthetic pesticides, but this single-technology approach is likely to incur negative effects on natural enemies and the risk of pest resistance. Thus, the sustainable production of canola requires integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, in which cultural control, crop resistance and biological control are used as important components, with chemical inputs applied only when absolutely needed to restrict pests from reaching economically damaging densities. Such IPM strategies should be built around a fundamental understanding of pest ecology at both regional and local farm levels and the integration of renewable technologies. Therefore, future research efforts need to be focused on the canola-cropping system, with a particular emphasis on the impact of pest species, natural enemies of the pests, varietal resistance to pests and the spatial ecology of pest species.