I’ve had the first report of a soybean field in Tennessee being treated for kudzu bug. The field is located in East Tennessee (Polk County). Continue reading
19
Jul
2012
Category Archives: Insects
18
Jul
2012
ALERT – Fall Armyworms in Soybean
18
Jul
2012
When the stars align, fall armyworm larvae can completely defoliate soybean (pictured below). The common scenario … larvae infest grassy weeds in late planted or double cropped fields and then move onto the soybean plants, especially if Round-Up Continue reading
17
Jul
2012
Armyworms in Bermudagrass and Pastures
17
Jul
2012
A West Tennessee Extension Agent reported treatable levels of fall armyworms showing up in some pastures. Pastures greening up after the prolonged drought will be attractive to moths, and it is about that time of year anyhow. Bermudagrass is especially attractive to Continue reading
17
Jul
2012
Preying on Predators
17
Jul
2012
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).
17
Jul
2012
Soybean – Spider Mites and Stink Bugs
17
Jul
2012
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
17
Jul
2012
Cotton Insect Action Increases
17
Jul
2012
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
11
Jul
2012
Insect Pressure Sporadic
11
Jul
2012
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
10
Jul
2012
IPM in a Drought
10
Jul
2012
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