Cereal leaf beetle in 33.3% of fields in southern Alberta. Locally, adults spread to the exterior of fields during their overwinter. Larvae tend to stay on the outside of crop fields, but are also found in the center. Local populations are never homogenously distributed, hotspots and empty places occur in each field. "O. melanopus" consumes nearly all cereal crops, but has a strong affinity for oats, barley, and rye, and its favorite host is wheat. Alternatives are corn, sorghum, and sudangrass for adults, and wild oats, quackgrass, timothy, canary grass, reed canary grass, annual and perennial ryegrass, foxtail, orchard grass, wild rye, smooth
Crop rotation for specialist crops, and to reduce waste and inefficiency by simplifying planting and harvesting. A preliminary assessment of crop interrelationships can be found in how each crop: (1) contributes to soil organic matter (SOM) content, (2) provides for pest management, (3) manages deficient or excess nutrients, and (4) how it contributes to or controls for soil erosion. Crop choice is often related to the goal the farmer is looking to achieve with the rotation, which could be weed management, increasing available nitrogen in the soil, controlling for erosion, or increasing soil structure and biomass, to name a few. When discussing