Brassica pod midge

• Mosquito with 1.5-2 mm very small and inconspicuous. Bad flyer, therefore concentrated on the edges of the fields. Usually only active from middle/end flowering in places sheltered from the wind. Larvae 2 mm long, legless and headless. pupating in the ground, hatching and development of a 2nd and sometimes 3rd generation.
• Mosquito harmless, but larvae suck on inner pod walls. Pods burst open prematurely and fungus. Margins and main shoot are most affected.

CONTROL BENCHMARK

• Hardly to control, because mosquito is not detected via yellow trap. Mosquito is also easy to confuse with ichneumon flies. 
• Exploits cabbage seed weevil oviposition sites, therefore indirect control of the midge through treatment. Midge can bite very young pods but also directly!
• Small fields and sheltered locations more heavily infested, concentrated on large fields - especially to previous year's rapeseed. Edge treatment often sufficient. 
• Appears mostly after the optimal Sclerotinia control date. Additional late passage usually uneconomical.
• Larvae can no longer be controlled. 
  

PREVENTION

• The most important natural enemies are ichneumon flies, ground beetles on the ground as well as nematodes and soil fungi.
• Turning tillage buries part of the mosquito cocoons.
   

 Brassica pod midge

 Up to 30 first white, later yellowish larvae/pod

 Mosquito active in calm and warmer conditions