Category Archives: Pest Group

Corn earworm report for September 8, 2022

Corn earworm (=bollworm) moth captures from southeast Virginia black light traps this week were 5 per night at Templeton (Prince George Co.) and 4 per night at Disputanta (Prince George Co.); Suffolk numbers averaged 45 per night. Here is the Table. In our pyrethroid resistance monitoring tests, the seasonal average is at 33% survival (n=565 moths tested).

Corn earworm update for September 1, 2022

Corn earworm (=bollworm) moth captures from southeast Virginia black light traps this week were 7 per night at Templeton (Prince George Co.) and 9 per night at Disputanta (Prince George Co.); Suffolk numbers reached 60 per night. Here is the Table. In our pyrethroid resistance monitoring tests, the seasonal average is at 33% survival (n=502 moths tested).

Corn earworm/bollworm update for August 25, 2022

This week’s corn earworm (=bollworm) moth captures from local black light traps were: Sara Rutherford (Greensville ANR Agent) reported a nightly average of 20 moths; Scott Reiter (Prince George ANR Agent) had 8 per night at Templeton and 10 at Disputanta; the Spiers reported 5 per night in Dinwiddie; and we averaged 28 in Suffolk. Here is the Table. In our pyrethroid resistance monitoring tests, the seasonal average is at 30% survival (n=395 moths tested).

Corn earworm/bollworm update for August 11, 2022

This week’s corn earworm (=bollworm) moth captures from local black light traps were: Sara Rutherford (Greensville ANR Agent) reported a nightly average of 13 moths; Scott Reiter (Prince George ANR Agent) had 16 per night at Templeton and 19 at Disputanta; and we averaged 28 in Suffolk. Here is the Table. In our pyrethroid resistance monitoring tests, the seasonal average is at 39% survival (n=278 moths tested).

Corn earworm/bollworm update for August 4, 2022

Corn earworm (=bollworm) moth captures continued to increase this week in local black light traps. Sara Rutherford (Greensville ANR Agent) reported a nightly average of 21 moths; Scott Reiter (Prince George ANR Agent) had 11 per night at Templeton and 18 at Disputanta; and we averaged 48 in Suffolk. Here is the Table. In our pyrethroid resistance tests, 45% of moths are surviving the 24-hour pesticide exposure period (n=200 moths tested).

Corn earworm moth report for July 28, 2022

Corn earworm (=bollworm) moth captures have started to climb in local black light traps. Sara Rutherford (Greensville ANR Agent) reported a nightly average of 17.7 moths; Scott Reiter (Prince George ANR Agent) had 6.5 per night at Templeton and 10.3 at Disputanta; and we averaged 17.9 in Suffolk. Here is the Table. We have also started our corn earworm moth pyrethroid resistance monitoring program–this week we had 55% survival in vials containing 5 micrograms of the pyrethroid, cypermethrin (n=82 moths tested).

Cooler Soil Temperatures = Delayed Soybean Emergence

The upcoming weekend rainfall (our meteorologists seem assured that it’ll be widespread) should greatly help parts of Virginia that are short on or getting short of topsoil moisture and position us perfectly for a good start to the soybean growing season.

However, with the rainfall comes cooler soil temperatures. Below are predictions for 4-inch soil moisture and soil temperature over the next 10 days from Orange (one of the coolest parts of Virginia) and Suffolk (one of the warmest parts). As you see, soil temperatures will plummet from relatively warm (>60o) to nearly 50o or less over the weekend. While soybean seed will germinate and emerge in a reasonable amount of time at 60O, germination and emergence will be very slow when temperatures dip below this.

Therefore, heed my suggestion and make sure that you have a good fungicide seed treatment on anything that you are planting now or early next week.

Below is the fungicide efficacy chart from our Pest Management Guide. The main diseases that we need to concern ourselves with are Rhizoctonia and Fusarium sp. If in wet soils, Pythium and Phytophtora sp. could also be a problem with slow-emerging soybean. Be sure to protect a slow-emerging crop with a fungicide containing the active ingredients that provide good to excellent control of the appropriate disease.

Corn earworm/bollworm update for August 26, 2021

Captures of corn earworm (=bollworm) moths decreased this week in our black light traps. The average number of moths caught per night was: Dinwiddie = 2; Greensville = 6; Prince George-Templeton = 1; Prince George-Disputanta = 2; Suffolk = 13. Here is the Table. In our unsprayed, conventional (non-Bt) cotton plots at the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Suffolk, we had 11% boll injury due to bollworm feeding this week. Adult cypermethrin (pyrethroid insecticide) vial tests have 29% moth survival with 796 moths tested in 2021.