Native to Europe but discovered in Pennsylvania in 2015, the Allium leafminer is a fly whose larvae feed on crops in the Allium genus, including onions, garlic and leeks.
Since its arrival in the U.S., it has spread to New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey, and is considered a major agricultural threat. A Cornell-led team of researchers field-tested 14 active ingredients in insecticides, applied in a variety of methods, to understand the best treatment options.
The researchers’ findings are described in a study, “Managing Allium Leafminer: An Emerging Pest of Allium Crops in North America,” published June 13 in the Journal of Economic Entomology.
The research team, led by senior author Brian Nault, professor of entomology at Cornell AgriTech and one of the nation’s leading Allium leafminer management experts, found that several traditional chemical insecticides worked best against the invasive insect.
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