THE LONG HOT SUMMER SPAWNS A RED MENACE

摘要

FROM a distance it looked like virus yellows infection. Closer examination, however, revealed that the yellow symptoms, which had spread across a 12 hectare Gaucho-treated sugar beet field near Wymondham in Norfolk during September, were a result of feeding damage by mites. These tiny relatives of spiders covered the undersurface of the leaves like red dandruff and were causing substantial damage to the crop. Similar observations were recorded in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and the West Midlands soon after and it became apparent that this sporadic pest was attacking the beet crop nationwide. This article describes the circumstances which led to this latest pest outbreak.