A new mobile app in development at the University of Saskatchewan promises to identify field insects instantly, show local populations on a live map, and deliver management advice based on crop, region and weather.

Why it matters: Tracking pests and beneficial insects in real time could help farmers make quicker, better-informed pest management decisions and cut unnecessary pesticide use.

The app, called IPPM Now, is expected to combine artificial intelligence (AI), geospatial data and entomology expertise to turn a smartphone photo into real-time agronomic insight. Its developers say it recognizes both harmful and beneficial insects, from flea beetles and grasshoppers to pollinators and lady beetles, with more than 90 per cent accuracy.

Farmers could therefore learn not only what insect they’re dealing with, but whether pressure has reached economic thresholds and what conservation steps might protect beneficial species.

For developers, the goal is to pull together information that has long been scattered across research programs, scouting reports and grower experience.

“It will be super useful for farmers, agronomists and scientists scouting insect pests,” says project lead Teresa Aguiar, a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan. “Scouting takes a lot of time, and the information from researchers, agronomists and farmers is often disconnected.”

From photo to field map

Each image submitted through the app is tagged to a rural municipality, not to an exact GPS point, to protect user privacy. Those records build a colour-coded map that shows where pests, pollinators and biocontrol insects are active. The development team plans to integrate local weather data so future versions can forecast outbreaks and pollinator activity.

“We want a practical tool that integrates insect identification, spatial reference, data collection and management recommendations in one platform to make decisions with all the variables involved in pest management,” Aguiar says.

Smart traps and sweep-net scouting

Alongside the app, Insect Track Solutions, the Saskatoon-based startup commercializing the project, is testing a smart trap that marries a sticky card with a small camera. Set in a field, the trap automatically photographs insects and uploads images to the same AI model used by the app, identifying and counting adult insects without anyone having to check the card manually.

Because sticky cards only capture flying adults, Aguiar’s team also designed a simple, low-tech workaround for ground or juvenile stages.

“To solve this problem, make a sweep and then put that sweep in a ziplock bag with a white background and take a picture of that ziplock bag using our mobile app,” she says. The model can then identify and count nymphs and instars in the sample, giving a fuller picture of population levels.

What it can do today

The prototype version already supports canola and wheat and recognizes 10 key insect groups common to the Prairies. Pests include lygus, flea beetles, grasshoppers and weevils; beneficials include lacewings, lady beetles, hoverflies, bumblebees and honeybees. The app draws on field data and photo libraries, including data and images supplied by Manitoba entomologist John Gavloski, to keep improving its accuracy toward species-level ID.

Future updates will broaden crop coverage and add weather and growth-stage links to help predict pest risk or pollinator timing.

Beta testers wanted

Before IPPM Now officially launches next spring, the developers are inviting farmers, agronomists and crop scouts to test the app this winter. Beta users will get early access, provide feedback on design and function, and can volunteer to host free smart-trap trials in 2025.

Aguiar says user input will guide the final version.

“We are sending beta testing invitations. If you’re interested, we can put the app in your phone, early access to give us feedback and help us to shape the app and get it ready for next season.”

Farmers and agronomists interested in early testing or hosting field validation sites can contact Insect Track Solutions Inc. via email.

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That’s what a recent two-year study aimed to address, with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers looking at practical ways to limit lygus damage in faba beans. They focused on the pest’s tendency to migrate into faba from other crops as they mature and dry down.

Lygus feed on a wide range of hosts and are drawn to plants with flowers and tender tissue. That makes flowering time critical. Unfortunately for faba beans, their pod fill stage often lines up with the drydown period in nearby crops, which draws in lygus bugs at the worst possible time.

Trap cropping

That’s where trap crops come in. The idea is simple: plant something even more attractive than faba beans along the field edge, draw lygus in and hit them with an insecticide before they move on.

Trap cropping isn’t a new concept. AAFC entomologist Héctor Cárcamo, who led the lygus bug study, points out it was common for farmers to use trap crops to control wheat stem sawfly before resistant, solid-stem wheat varieties became available.

“Farmers would plant things like oats along the borders and ditches,” he says.

Nowadays, trap crops are more common in regions with smaller fields, where farmers can afford to manage more complex systems. On the Prairies, where farms are large and time is tight, adding extra steps such as planting and managing a separate trap crop can be a tough sell.

Still, Cárcamo believes there’s untapped potential.

“There are opportunities we’re missing in terms of reducing insecticide costs and the environmental impacts of spraying,” he says.

There’s also the looming threat of resistance. Lygus has already shown signs of resistance to some pyrethroids like Matador in cotton in the U.S.

“We should be taking whatever steps we can to reduce repeated applications of the same insecticides,” says Cárcamo.

What they tested

The research team used both lab and field trials to test how lygus responds to different crops. In the lab, they offered bugs a choice between faba beans and five other species: flax, peas, canola, safflower and alfalfa.

While there were hints that lygus males caused more damage when canola was in the mix, nothing significantly outperformed faba beans in terms of attractiveness. Cárcamo isn’t surprised.

“You’re in a very artificial environment in the lab,” he says. “What you see there doesn’t always play out in the field.”

The real insights came from side-by-side field trials at Lethbridge and Vauxhall, Alta., where faba beans were grown next to each potential trap crop. Researchers monitored lygus numbers and necrotic seed damage in the faba plots and tested two different insecticides to see how spraying affected outcomes.

What they found

First off, not every crop worked equally well. Peas and flax had the lowest lygus numbers, meaning they were less attractive and offered little trap potential.

Canola, on the other hand, was a major lygus magnet. Unfortunately, the bugs didn’t stop there: they spilled into the faba plots and caused serious seed damage.

“It was very clear they love canola and all the brassicaceae crops,” says Cárcamo. “But the problem is they also like faba beans enough to cause damage.”

Canola attracts lygus effectively, but to work as a trap crop, it has to be paired with well-timed insecticide applications. Otherwise, the bugs may still reach the faba beans.

Safflower appears to hold lygus bugs for longer. In 2022, faba beans beside safflower had significantly less damage than those next to canola. This lines up with findings from cotton systems in other countries, where safflower has been used as an effective trap crop.

Sunflowers, tested in 2023, also attracted high lygus numbers. Damage in adjacent faba plots was still present, but researchers observed high levels of parasitism by beneficial wasps such as Peristenus. That opens the door to more integrated strategies.

“There’s potential to use crops like sunflowers not just to attract lygus, but to support natural enemies,” Cárcamo says.

For organic growers, especially, safflower could be a good candidate.

“That might be the crop where you can hope to retain the lygus bug the longest,” Cárcamo says. “They like it better than faba beans, so the damage should be less.”

He cautions that trap cropping alone won’t reduce lygus populations, but it may help delay damage long enough to make a difference.

In a situation like this, he adds, there’s a need to integrate trap crops with natural enemies such as parasitoid wasps that attack the baby lygus. And for non-organic farmers, if needed, he recommends using selective insecticides that are soft on the beneficial insects essential for faba seed set.

Role of insecticides

The insecticide trials also revealed key insights. In 2022, the team used Beleaf, a product with low impact on pollinators and beneficials. It didn’t significantly reduce damage.

In 2023, they switched to lambda-cyhalothrin, a more aggressive pyrethroid. That spray reduced both lygus numbers and seed damage, but with greater risk to non-target insects.

What’s next?

Cárcamo says this work is still in its early days. Larger-scale trials in commercial fields are needed to confirm which trap crops work best and how to fine-tune the approach.

One scenario he’d like to test involves planting strips of faba beans and peas side by side, with canola along the field edges to act as a trap. But he doesn’t recommend farmers try this before the idea has been tested more.

“I’d like to look into the possibility of doing an experiment with a farmer,” he says. “That way, we can try it at a smaller scale first and monitor before scaling up to a full field.”

This year, he’s shifting focus slightly to test similar ideas in lentils, which will involve more real-world testing, including trials in lentil fields and work on natural enemy populations.

“We’re now looking for lentil growers to participate,” he says. “We want to measure how many natural enemies are present in the field.”

He’s also exploring options that could prove helpful for organic growers. In the lab, his team is testing insect-killing fungi — known as entomopathogens — on alfalfa weevils. The fungi work, but they’re slow, often taking two weeks to kill the insect.

“So you’d need a crop with a long flowering period, like safflower, to hold the pests long enough for the fungus to do its job,” he explains.

For now, trap crops will likely remain a tough sell for Canadian farmers. But the research shows that with the right crop, timing and spray strategy, they might give farmers — organic or otherwise — another tool to manage this tricky pest.

The post Could trap crops help fend off lygus in faba beans? appeared first on Grainews.

A long-lasting lure attracts the rodent to the trap. When it sticks its head into the trap a piston strikes it on the head, killing it instantly. A spring retracts the piston, readying it for the next strike. The rodent is then left to be carried off by a natural predator such as a fox or raccoon.

The lure remains fresh for up to one month.

Traps retail for $99.99. A more sophisticated option is the Smart Trap Kit, which relays trap data to a smartphone app, which includes number of kills, date, time and environmental conditions. That system retails for $199.99.

More information is available on the company’s website.

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