Hello All!
Last week came the time for our second release of psyllids. We have spent the past few weeks monitoring our sites to see how the little sap suckers have been getting on.
Some sites have been more successful than others, however, excited to still see a presence of psyllids so long after the release.
Step 1: Psyllids Delivery
Okay so the delivery didn't go exactly to plan, however, they did finally arrived safe and sound ready to be transported to their new homes at our sites across the Tees!
Step 2: Release
Once we arrived at the sites, it was time to release our psyllids into the strands of Japanese Knotweed across our 5 sites. We had various sections including cut areas (this is where fresh Japanese Knotweed grows which is sometimes preferable for the psyllids), uncut areas and an area where the original release took place. Some of the areas involved releasing the psyllids straight out, the other areas included placing them into a sleeve to avoid predation such as by spiders.
Step 3: Monitoring
We will return weekly to continue our monitoring with our MBiol student and see how well the next set of psyllids are doing! Hopefully we will see more eggs on the leaves!
