Pest Alert: Swede midge found in Connecticut (June 6, 2007)

Swede midge was recently reported from an organic farm in New Haven County, Connecticut. A single adult swede midge was captured by Dr. Kimberly Stoner (Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station) on July 27, 2006 in a Jackson trap placed in a field of mixed cruciferous vegetable crops. The specimen was confirmed on January 19, 2007 by Dr. Raymond Gagne, USDA APHIS Systemic Entomology Laboratory, Washington, DC.

The swede midge is an introduced pest of brassicas that has been detected in Ontario and Quebec, Canada and western New York. In 2005 a single male swede midge was found in a Northampton, MA community garden. For more detailed information on swede midge and photos of damage caused by this insect visit our website (http://massnrc.org/pests/pestFAQsheets/swedemidge.html).

This pest alert is from the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project, a collaborative project between the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the UMass Extension Agriculture and Landscape Program aimed at preventing the establishment of new pathogens and pests in Massachusetts. Visit the project website (http://www.massnrc.org/pests) for more information on Swede midge and other emerging pests or to subscribe and unsubscribe for pest alerts.