Problem Identifier Unit Screen//v.w/ RR Template

Problem Identifier Unit Screen//v.w/ RR Template Root Maggots

Problem
Young plants wilt in the heat of the day. They may later turn yellow and die. Soft-bodied, yellow-white maggots, ¼ to 1/3 inch long, are feeding in the roots and on seeds. The roots are honeycombed with slimy channels and scarred by brown grooves.

Analysis
(Hylemya species)

Root maggots are a damaging pest of turnips in the northern United States. They are most numerous during cool, wet weather in the spring, early summer, and fall. Early maggots attack the roots, stems, and seeds of turnips, cabbage, broccoli, and radishes in the spring and early summer. Later insects damage crops in the fall. The adult is a gray fly somewhat smaller than a housefly, with black stripes and bristles down its back. It lays eggs on stems and in nearby soil. The maggots hatch in 2 to 5 days to feed and tunnel into the roots, rendering them inedible.

Solution
Once the maggots are in the roots, nothing can be done. To control maggots in the planting of turnips, mix an insecticide containing chlorpyrifos or diazinon into the top 4 to 6 inches of soil before seeding. Control lasts about a month. To prevent egg laying, screen adult flies from the seedbed with a cheesecloth cover.

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