Kelly Estes Email

This author has written 26 articles

Cooperators Sought for Insect Trapping Network

  • March 13, 2017

Despite the snow falling outside of my window this morning, plans continue for the upcoming survey season. Mother Nature has hinted at spring with temperatures in the 70’s just last week and its time to start thinking about spring insect trapping.
We are starting to look for cooperators that are willing to place and monitor traps for black cutworm and true armyworm this spring and European corn borer, corn earworm, fall armyworm, and western bean cutworm this summer.…

Read This Article

Corn Earworm, European Corn Borer, Fall Armyworm, or Western Bean Cutworm: Which One Is Causing the Injury I’m Finding on My Corn Ears?

  • September 16, 2016

Several questions about injury on corn ears has made it way to my desk the past week.

Insect injury to corn ear (photo courtesy of Duane Frederking).
Damaged ear tips, missing kernels, and fungal pathogens are all being reported. Several insect pests in Illinois could be the culprit. Corn earworm, fall armyworm, European corn borer, and western bean cutworm are pests of Illinois cornfields. Their larvae all feed on the ears of corn plants.…

Read This Article

How can we improve your experience with the Pest Degree Day Calculator?

  • August 25, 2016

Insects require a certain amount of heat to develop from one stage in their life cycle to another (eggs to larvae to pupae to adults). Degree-days measure insect growth and development in response to daily temperatures. The accumulation of these degree-days can be measured over a period of time and used to estimate growth and predict insect development. Calculating degree-days allows us to predict when significant biological events such as the appearance of insect pests may occur or when they may reach a life stage that is damaging to a particular crop.…

Read This Article

A Mixed Bag of Insect Densities in 2016 Corn and Soybean Surveys

  • August 22, 2016

Once again, statewide surveys of insects in corn and soybean fields were conducted during the summer of 2016.  A total of 33 counties were surveyed this year. The surveys were performed during the first week of August by sampling five corn and five soybean fields per county. For the past several years (2011, 2013–2016), surveys in corn and soybean fields have been conducted with the goal of estimating densities of common insect pests. Densities are reported for the various USDA crop reporting districts of Illinois to highlight portions of the state where the risk of economic insect damage is greatest.…

Read This Article

Insect Briefs – Soybean Aphids, Syrphid Flies, and More

  • July 20, 2016

–  Russ Higgins, University of Illinois Extension reports finding a couple of soybean aphids in LaSalle County this week. This follows some earlier reports in July of soybean aphids being found in low numbers in Iowa. Despite some of the recommendations floating around, direct yield loss from soybean aphid feeding does not occur when the first (or five or ten) aphids begin feeding. Today’s soybean varieties are equipped to handle minor challenges, including a few aphids.…

Read This Article

Black Cutworm Activity Increasing Across Illinois

  • April 27, 2016

*Edited April 28 to include significant flights and projected cutting dates for Carroll, Effingham, and Ford counties.
Black cutworms have been observed in traps across the state for the past couple of weeks. Several counties have reported significant moth flights (9 or more moths over a 2-night span). We can use the date of the significant flight to predict potential cutting dates based on degree day predictions.

For more complete information about the biology,…

Read This Article
Back To Top