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Erin Adams (MPM Student)

Contact Info

Email: eadams@sfu.ca
Phone: +1.778.782.4512
Fax: +1.778.782.3496
Location: B 7250

Current Research

Cabbage maggots (Delia radicum) are the most important pest affecting cole crops. They have been developing resistance to the insecticide chlorpyrifos and an exclusion fence designed by Bob Vernon (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) offers a cost effective alternative to the insecticide. Prototypes of the fence are being evaluated on a commercial scale. 80-90% of Delia radicum females are excluded and those that defeat the fence are localized around the crop edges.

I look at how the exclusion fences affect beneficial beetles, such as carabids and staphylinids, which prey on Delia eggs and maggots in cole crops. Specifically, I am interested in how the exclusion fence affects the movement of beneficial beetles throughout the field, and to what extent the beneficial beetles control the cabbage maggots that defeat the fence. The final goal is to develop a way to maximize permeability of the fence to beneficials while remaining effective against Delia radicum.

last updated fall 2010