With such a wet and mild year it feels inevitable that we will see a significant crane fly flight this year.
Normally I’d be asking you to “please log sightings of crane fly on PestTracker so we can know where we are in the flight window”
But we’ve got a good few years of population data now and so we’ll soon be launching a report with all that data summarised to show the trends we see.
Thanks to all those who have logged sightings over the years!
We’ll try and bring back an even more quick and easy to log PestTracker tool in the Turf Advisor app in the future, but for now all the data we have suggests a consistent hatch period year on year to get that optimum treatment timing.
As you can see in the graph below the adult emergence or ‘hatch’ for UK & Ireland starts in dribs and drabs in early August, but we really see it ramp up in September.
We have Acelepryn approved in the UK & Ireland for control of Leatherjackets in managed amenity turf.
Very effective against leatherjackets when we get the timing right, and are able to target the small grubs.
For those in high pressure sites the addition of Nematrident nematodes can be a powerful tool, to further suppress leatherjacket populations.
Timings:
Acelepryn – Mid/late October application.
Nematrident – Within 7 days of the Acelepryn application if following the “Total approach“, or October if going solo Nematrident.
I’ve had some reports from those who are starting to see bird, or worst larger mammal (badger and fox) damage to surfaces.
Just a note on this; even when we get timing right some (up to 10%) of the larvae population can remain, so if you have heavy infestations predators may still feel it’s worth the dig effort unfortunately.
Also to note that, a bit like elephants heading to a watering hole they see just once a year in the dry season, predators will continue to target areas they have had success feeding.
So even if we were to completely eradicate the grub population, you may still see a level of bird pecking as they are in the habit of feeding here.
It’s not clear how many years of “not worth it this year” pecking we’ll need to endure before they stop prospecting, but hopefully it’s just a few.
