Rootworm Beetle Monitoring – Volunteers Wanted for 2025

For the last several years, we have participated in a regional corn rootworm beetle trapping network. Our goal is to understand, on a regional basis, how rootworm populations are changing, including the prevalence of northern corn rootworms, risk to first-year corn from the variant western corn rootworm, and simply identifying areas where the rootworm population might be growing. If you are interested in participating, we will provide sticky traps for as many fields as you wish to monitor. Simply send me an email with your name, mailing address, and the number of corn and/or soybean fields you would like to monitor, and we will send you the protocol and the traps. A few highlights from the protocol so you know what you are getting yourself into:

• We are asking for a single transect of 4 traps, replaced weekly for 4 weeks
• You can enter the data yourself through an online portal, or simply send the data back to me and we will enter it
• Annual reports going back to 2021 can be found at www.rootwormipm.org (go to “Adult Trapping Network” on the top bar). The site also describes the basics of identification, biology, and management for the curious.

If you are interested in participating, please send me an email at your earliest convenience: nseiter@illinois.edu.

Nick Seiter, Field Crop Entomologist | nseiter@illinois.edu | 812.593.4317