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 crop rotation comes from the interrelationship of nitrogen fixing-crops with nitrogen demanding crops. Legumes, like alfalfa and clover, collect available nitrogen from the soil in nodules on their root structure. When the plant is harvested, the biomass of uncollected roots breaks down, making the stored nitrogen available to future crops. Legumes are also a valued green manure: a crop that collects nutrients and fixes them at soil depths accessible to future crops. In addition, legumes have heavy tap roots that burrow deep into the ground, lifting soil for better tilth and absorption of water. Cereal and grasses are frequent cover