Once again this year I will be monitoring corn earworm flights throughout the state. Be sure to check the CEW trapping website for updates daily. If you produce sweetcorn or popcorn and are interested in hosting a trap, please contact me at (765) 494-6167 or lingwell@purdue.edu. I will provide the trap and the lure, but…Read more about Corn Earworm Trapping Collaborators Needed[Read More]
Insect and Mite Management
We will continue to host two trapping networks in the 2022 growing season. The historical corn earworm (Figure 1) trapping network will continue. This state-wide trapping and monitoring program for corn earworm is crucial to assist growers with timely management decisions in sweet corn production. The latest trap catch information can be found here. Traps…Read more about Participate in Pest Monitoring to Inform Management[Read More]
Researchers at Purdue University and The College of Wooster are conducting a study to learn more about insect pest management practices used by vegetable producers in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US. Although there is a key insect we’re curious about (the carrot weevil), you’ll only see 1 question about it; the…Read more about Calling on Indiana Vegetable Producers: Tell us more about insect management in your crops![Read More]
Over the last few years, we’ve heard of 2 or 3 unusual cases of high tunnel tomato producers losing entire crops of their tomatoes, with plants suddenly looking brown and covered in leaf mines/tunnels (Figure 1). After collecting specimens, we’ve confirmed the very hungry and tiny culprit is the caterpillar of the tomato pinworm (Keiferia…Read more about Lookout for Tomato Pinworm: a Rare but Very Hungry Caterpillar that can Devastate Tomatoes[Read More]
Carrots are a wonderfully diverse crop with a wide array of varieties available to growers. Within this diversity lies the potential for identifying varieties that have higher natural resistance to particular kinds of insect pests. Although it is not a major pest in Indiana, the carrot weevil (Listronotus oregonensis) (Figure 1A) is a serious pest…Read more about Evaluating Insect Communities on Seven Varieties of Carrots During the 2021 Growing Season[Read More]
After weeks of successive trap catches being empty or in the single digits, we have seen a dramatic increase in the last couple of days in the number of corn earworm moths captured in our pheromone traps throughout the state. At multiple locations catches jumped from near nothing to hundreds of individuals in a single…Read more about Corn Earworms are Taking Flight[Read More]
This is our second year scouting CBD hemp to learn more about the insect communities occurring on these plants throughout the season and ‘who’ the potential pest insects might be! This year we had the opportunity to scout CBD hemp plants grown both in the field and in a high tunnel environment (Figure 1). Since…Read more about Insects Visiting CBD Hemp so Far During Summer 2021[Read More]
We were all hoping it would happen later, but unfortunately, the spotted lanternfly (SLF) (Lycorma delicatula) (Figure 1), an invasive planthopper with a piercing-sucking feeding strategy, was officially detected in Vevay, Indiana (Switzerland County) for the first time in July 2021. You can see pictures and read more about the detection at the Indiana Department…Read more about Spotted lanternfly has been Detected in Indiana[Read More]
Sometimes choosing the right product to manage a particular pest can be a daunting and risky task, especially when crops are close to harvest and an imposing outbreak sneaks up on you. One such pest that is sneaky are two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae; Figure 1). This microscopic pest can hang out in the crop…Read more about Considerations when Selecting the Right Miticide[Read More]
A quick glance at my vegetable garden on Thursday, June 17, revealed a lonely Japanese beetle… I dutifully squished it! This does indicate that emergence is beginning in west central Indiana. Hatch has undoubtedly been going for several days in southern counties, whereas, northern counties will soon be graced with their presence. Oh joy! Japanese…Read more about Japanese Beetles Emerging[Read More]