Corn earworm moth counts in local black light traps have increased from a few per night to 40-50 per night. These are not large numbers, but do indicate that moths are beginning to emerge from corn fields. Moths from corn are the second generation that migrates into soybean, cotton and peanut fields. We have run two batches of these second generation moths in our pyrethroid vial testing program with alarming results….55% (330 tested) and 59% (131 tested) survivorship for the July 26th and 27th samples (see the attached line graph). These are unprecedented levels for Virginia where in recent years, 40% survivorship was considered high. In a conversation with Dr. Rogers Leonard, a field crops entomologist at LSU, he confirmed that they are seeing even higher levels of survivorship in the Delta states and are dealing with extremely large corn earworm/tobacco budworm infestations in soybean. See more comments relating to soybean and cotton in the other July 28 advisories.
Additional information: cew-avt-graphs-july-28-2011-pptx