Articles
THE CONTROL OF BLUEBERRY INSECTS IN NEW JERSEY
Roots, leaves, stems, flowers, buds, and berries all have several insects which feed on them.
Some seriously reduce the crop while others spoil the quality of the berries and lower their value on the market.
Control of insects is, therefore, an essential phase of blueberry growing in this state.
Because of its necessary brevity, this paper concerns itself largely with various control aspects.
For detailed descriptions of blueberry insects, Phipps (1) and Marucci (2) are suggested references.
C.R. Phipps (1) registered 292 species of insects belonging to 9 orders and 57 families.
Most of these are found in cultivated blueberries in New Jersey, and a few, listed in Table 1, have become economically significant.
This table gives the toxonomic position, feeding habits, and rudiments of the life cycle of the more important ones.
The evolution of the insect problem in cultivated blueberries was quite rapid.
The first fields were planted in areas where wild blueberries and huckleberries are indigenous and abundant.
The system of monoculture created conditions very favorable for the native insects to make simple adaptations from the wild species to the cultivated varieties, and they soon become destructive.
The severity of the insect problem, even now, is accentuated by the fact that a large reservoir of insects in the wild continually migrate into the fields to bolster populations diminished by efficient control efforts.
The first reference to the importance of insects on cultivated blueberries was made by C.S. Beckwith (3) in 1932, only a few years after the first commercial fields were planted.
He noted that four – cranberry rootworm, blueberry stem borer, blueberry stem gall, and blossom weevil – required attention.
At that time, the only recommendation was destroying the wild bushes and keeping the ground cleared around the field.
This remained the only insect control practiced until the seizure and condemnation of several shipments