Alberta Insect Pest Monitoring Network

Quality assurance, market access and yield are key to the success of Alberta’s agriculture industry. Surveillance and monitoring for insects provides a key piece to this success by gathering information about established species populations and new invasive threats to the cropping industry. This information can play an important piece in support of pest related trade discussions.

This work helps us to understand insect populations and range expansion of the targeted insects so that industry can understand the risk and potential damage. The information gathered from pheromone traps, field insect collections and counts or damage assessment is used to create forecast maps and make control recommendations. The data from the surveys is used for more than just creating forecast maps though, it can be used to direct insect pest research priorities or researchers can use the collection of samples in their studies.

The Alberta Insect Pest Monitoring Network coordinates, manages and carries out 7 insect surveys provincewide in Alberta’s field crops to assess presence, abundance and impact to the agriculture industry. The Network also conducts smaller targeted surveys on new and emerging pests working with Universities, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The success of the network depends on its dedicated partners that assist with surveillance, including:

• Agriculture fieldmen
• agronomists
• producers
• Plant and Bee Health Surveillance Section, Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation 

Each year surveyors set out to count, sweep net and soil sample to gather information for insect survey and population maps in Alberta.

Producers can sign up to participate in the annual surveys by signing up to allow access to their land. Every year surveyors are looking for pea fields in the spring to access damage for pea leaf weevil, and in the fall, after harvest, wheat fields as they sample soil for wheat midge or count cut wheat stems in the case of wheat stem sawfly. Producers can help by contacting us and giving permission to visit their fields.

We understand that entering a field comes with responsibilities. Surveyors respect that the integrity and biosecurity of each field is of very high importance. Surveyors wear boot covers when entering fields, and park on the approach to the field or road side. All technicians and staff working for the entomology program are required to adhere strictly to this