After a season of relatively low corn earworm activity, pheromone trap catches have taken a dramatic turn upward, especially in the northern half of the state. Catches of 100-200 moths per night in the trap are not uncommon currently. Keep in mind that the threshold for treatment is 10 moths per night, so these catches[Read More…]
A group of entomologists and others, led by Dr. Ian Kaplan from the Department of Entomology, recently received funding from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative from USDA/NIFA for $3,673,611 to study “Navigating the Trade-off Between Pest Management and Pollinator Conservation in Cucurbits.” The grant will begin September 1, 2016 and run for 5 years. The[Read More…]
Corn earworm moth catches continue to be quite low in most areas of the state. Typically, we see an upsurge in activity during the first two weeks of August. With populations as low as they are and most field corn still with attractive silks, sweet corn growers can get by with minimal spray programs now.[Read More…]
Fall armyworms (Figure 1) are only able to survive the winter in extreme southern US, along the Gulf Coast and in Florida. Fall armyworms tend to migrate northward gradually, with each successive generation moving several hundred miles further north. They reach Indiana every year, but their populations are unpredictable in numbers and location. This week[Read More…]
Squash bug is the most consistent insect pest of squash and pumpkins and is the most difficult to control. The key to management is early detection and control of the nymphs. The adults are extremely difficult to kill (Figure 1). Foliar insecticides should be applied to control the nymphs (Figure 2) when you have more[Read More…]
Hornworms can be pests of tomato and pepper in field grown crops, but for some reason seem to be particularly severe in high tunnels. Hornworms are very large caterpillars, measuring up to 4 inches long (Figure 1), and they can consume large quantities of foliage and will also feed on green fruit (Figure 2). In[Read More…]
Pheromone trap catches of corn earworms have been relatively low in most areas of the state, with northern Indiana having the highest counts. Counts from the Purdue research farms can be seen at https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/cornearworm/index.php. Remember that as the field corn surrounding your sweet corn begins to silk and be attractive to the earworm moths for[Read More…]
We have received a number of reports of outbreaks of spider mites, primarily in watermelons in the field and cucumbers in high tunnels. Spider mite damage can be recognized by the chlorosis often observed on older leaves (Figure 1). Plus, the underside of leaves affected by spider mites often appears ‘dirty’ due to the debris caught[Read More…]
Supplementing the natural enemy population to control insect pests, i.e. augmentation biological control, is of interest to many high tunnel producers. Augmentation biological control has proven very effective at managing a number of greenhouse pests and there are a variety of commercial suppliers. For high tunnels, the greatest challenge is keeping the released predators or[Read More…]
Last week we had a report of an infestation of Colorado potato beetle larvae on tomatoes in a high tunnel (Figure 1). Potato beetles are a pest of most of the solanaceous crops (potato, tomato, eggplant, pepper), but they rarely become a serious problem on tomato in Indiana. In addition, we have not seen them in[Read More…]