Life History of the Sugar-Beet Root Maggot Tetanops myopaeformis (Röder) (Diptera: Otitidae) in Southern Alberta

Sugar beets are grown on approximately 38,000 acres of irrigated land in southern Alberta and their culture is a stabilizing influence on the economy of the irrigated districts. The sugar-beet root maggot, Tetanops myopaeformis (Röder), has been a pest of sugar heets in the sandy soil areas of southern Alberta since 1955 and caused serious damage in the same area from 1934 to 1937. This insect has been a problem also in Manitoba, North Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado (Allen et al., 1959; Callenbach et al., 1957; Hawley, 1922; Jones et al., 1952; Maxson, 1948). Considerable experimental work has been done on the control of this pest in Alberta (Harper et al., 1961a; Harper et al., 1961b; Lilly et al., 1961), but there have been no detailed studies published on the life history of the insect in Canada and there is very little information from elsewhere. In 1922 Hawley published notes on the biology of the insect in Utah. The present paper describes the life history of T. myopaeformis in southern Alberta.