Corn Earworm
https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/veg/cornearworm/
Our dent corn is through with pollination, leaving only our late plantings of sweet corn as a resource for the abundant moths in the landscape. Our thresholds are back down to 1 moth per night AND green silk on the plant to trigger a pesticide application.
Did you know that corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) goes by many common names, including tomato fruitworm, cotton bollworm, and soybean podworm? So, don’t be alarmed when you see the number below because there are other hosts out there on the landscape, but corn is definitely a favorite!
According to trap catches that have been reported over the past week (8 days), this is where we stand:
- Jennings Co. 63 per night
- Knox Co. 7 per night
- LaPorte Co. 92 per night (highly variable between locations)
- Lawrence Co. 3 per night
- Randolph Co. 156 per night
- Tippecanoe Co. 165 per night
- Hendricks Co. 88 per night
- Whitley Co. 142 per night
As you can see, while it is variable across the state, all reporting locations are exceeding the threshold. If you have late plantings, be sure you are protecting your ears (Figure 1)! There are a lot of pests out there (Figure 2), but sometimes you have nature’s little helpers around to assist (Figure 3).
Figure 1. Ear protection. Image generated by Microsoft CoPilot.
Figure 2. The diversity in colors of corn earworm larvae (Photo by John Obermeyer).
Figure 3. A corn earworm being eaten by a lady beetle larva (Photo by John Obermeyer).