Another “featured insect” article. The critter pictured right is one of the several kinds of assassin bugs found in field crops (family Reduviidae). Assassin bugs are excellent predators of many insect pests, but this guy didn’t get the memo and is eating an adult lady beetle (another beneficial insect).
Caterpillar infestations, including corn earworm, continue to be light in soybean. However, scouting late planted fields for corn earworm is a must. Concentrate your efforts on fields at R1 or R2. This will include many wheat beans. For the most part, other pest action continues to be light. But exceptions prove the rule. Continue reading
Along with the rains in many areas has come a rise in insect pest pressure in cotton. The bollworm flight, although not especially large, has begun across the state. Plant bugs, both tarnished and clouded, and stink bugs are also being reported in many areas and especially in the “greener” cotton. These next two weeks will be crunch time Continue reading
Soybean – There have been few calls on soybean. Stink bug populations are low with a few exceptions. However, I’ve definitely seen an upturn of green stink bug adults in early maturing soybean. No significant infestations of corn earworm or other caterpillar pests have been reported. With some of the recent rains, insect pressure may pick up. I’ve had a few calls on blister beetles, primarily the striped blister beetle. Seeing a few small spots of blister beetles Continue reading
Still haven’t had a rain? I can’t spin this. If you are not irrigating or had a good rain, drought is seriously hurting yield potential. So what does this mean in terms of insect control? There is talk about abandoning the crop or discontinuing insect management. In some cases, it makes sense to relax treatment thresholds, but we need to maintain Continue reading
Some places have received much needed rain and chances are good for scattered showers the rest of this week (7/7-7/12). Don’t be surprised if you find large numbers of squares on the ground after a good rain and some cloudy conditions. This response is frequently seen in cotton that has been drought stressed. Essentially the plant is trying to build more biomass to support later fruit at the expense of current squares. When this happens monitor plant growth closely and use plant growth regulators accordingly.
Much of our rain-fed (dryland) crop has about a bale of yield potential. Rain will improve yield, but will likely cause a fruiting gap leading to two crops on the same plant. While more yield is a good thing, this will also increase the period of scouting and maintaining insect/weed control. Harvest aid decisions will need to be based on a field by field basis to make sure we are maximizing yield and not sacrificing quality (discounts for micronaire and color). We will cross the harvest aid bridge when we get there, it is just some food for thought to help with late season planning.
Just another “bug if the week” entry featuring the black stink bug (Proxys punctulatus). I get one or two calls each year about this insect which shows up periodically in field crops. The black color, conspicuous white spot on its back, spined shoulders, and black and white legs make the adults easy to identify. I see the black stink bug most commonly on cotton where it will feed on plants and is also reported to occasionally prey on caterpillars. It is uncommon enough in Tennessee to just be a curiosity. I don’t know what the immature stages look like, and pictures are apparently hard to come by.
Don’t Forget the UT Soybean Scout Schools Next Week! These are 1.5 – 2 hour programs dealing with crop and pest management. Scouting notebooks and sweep nets will be provided while Continue reading