Nick Seiter Email

This author has written 31 articles

Rootworm Beetle Emergence – 2024 Monitoring Program

  • June 25, 2024

Corn rootworm beetles will begin emerging throughout Illinois over the next couple of weeks (we noticed the first few western corn rootworm beetles of the year at our Urbana field site earlier this week). There are a number of things we can learn by keeping track of corn rootworm emergence, particularly in fields that have a history of rootworm problems:

  • Control performance. Usually, our first indication that a local population is developing resistance to a Bt trait package is elevated numbers of beetles emerging from traited corn;

…

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Help Wanted: 2023 Corn Rootworm Adult Monitoring

  • June 16, 2023

For the last several years, Illinois cooperators have participated in a region-wide monitoring effort for corn rootworm beetles. (You can view the results of these efforts at https://www.rootwormipm.org; see “Adult Trapping Network” on the upper right). This effort allows us to track corn rootworm distributions over time, identify likely problem areas, and keep track of the species composition between western and norther corn rootworm. These monitoring efforts have helped us to document several trends over the last couple of years,…

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2022 Applied Research Report now available

  • February 1, 2023

Image of the cover for the 2022 Applied Research Results Field Crop Disease and Insect Management report. Evaluations of insect and disease control tactics for corn, soybean, and wheat. Statewide surveys of corn and soybean pests. Includes Illinois Extension Block "I" logo.
The 2022 report of Applied Research on field crop insects is now available for download online at https://go.illinois.edu/2022PestPathogenARB. The report has a rootworm-heavy emphasis this year, with 12 field evaluations of traits and insecticides, Bt-resistance bioassay results for western and northern corn rootworm, continuing work on entomopathogenic nematodes, and new work evaluating corn rootworm adult sampling methods. In addition, you can find the results of our annual statewide insect survey,…

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Dectes stem borer survey

  • September 6, 2022

Similar to last year, we will conduct a survey for dectes stem borer stem tunneling in Illinois over the next several weeks, and are looking for volunteers to help us monitor fields. If you are interested in scouting some of your fields for dectes stem borer, send me an email (nseiter@illinois.edu) and I will provide you our sampling protocol/data sheet. Basically, it involves splitting 25 soybean stems per field between R6 and R8 and counting the number of tunnels and larvae.…

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Join our corn rootworm monitoring network

  • June 10, 2022
  • Corn rootworm populations have expanded over the last several years in northern IL
  • We’re recruiting volunteers to help monitor rootworm populations
  • If you are interested in rootworm trapping, send an email to nseiter@illinois.edu with your contact information, shipping address, and how many fields you plan to monitor

Both western and northern corn rootworm population levels have increased over the last couple of years as resistance to Bt traits becomes more widespread.…

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2021 Applied Research Report Now Available

  • February 2, 2022

Each year, we produce a report of our applied research efforts related to insect and disease management in field crops. New for this year, we’ve created a landing page at https://extension.illinois.edu/global/field-crop-insect-and-disease-applied-research, where you can view this year’s report along previous versions (2018-2020). The 2021 report includes several highlights, such as:

  • Western and northern corn rootworm Bt resistance monitoring, as well as trait performance in field experiments
  • New surveys of dectes stem borer stem tunneling and corn rootworm sticky traps,

…

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How widespread is dectes stem borer in Illinois? Help us find out

  • September 1, 2021

Have you had issues with dectes stem borer in soybean over the last several years? We are kicking off a project this fall to better understand dectes stem borer populations in Illinois – where they are most common, how severe they are, and how they vary from year to year. If you are interested in contributing to this effort, we are seeking volunteers willing to do the following:
Choose one or more soybean fields. This could be a field where you have had dectes problems in the past,…

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Fall Armyworm in Pasture, Alfalfa, and Double-cropped Soybean

  • August 25, 2021

Over the last two weeks, reports of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) activity in southern and western Illinois have been on the rise, with reports of severe injury in some cases. The Southern U.S. has had a big year for fall armyworm (you can read more about their experience here, as well as find links to additional control information from the states involved: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2021/08/02/fall-armyworm-invading-southern). This is a migratory pest, and moth flights have been arriving both earlier and at higher numbers than in previous years.…

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Guess Who’s Back – Japanese Beetle Emergence Begins in Illinois

  • June 22, 2021

Japanese beetle emergence is beginning throughout Illinois. While they get a lot of attention every year, the real impact on corn and soybean yield is generally pretty minor. (If you have roses, sassafras trees, or a golf course, different story). A few things to keep in mind when you scout:
Check the field interior as well as the edges. It’s not uncommon to find higher numbers (and damage) at the edge of the field than the interior.…

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New for 2021: Join the Corn Rootworm Adult Monitoring Network in Illinois (Updated contact information)

  • June 8, 2021

Nick Seiter, Joseph Spencer, and Kelly Estes
Update: please email nseiter@illinois.edu if you are interested in participating in this effort.
Are you interested in learning more about the corn rootworm populations in your field? Have you seen more northern corn rootworm adults over the last few years? Our
colleagues Dr. Erin Hodgson and Ashley Dean at Iowa State began a volunteer-driven corn rootworm monitoring network in Iowa last year, and we are cooperating with them to bring this effort to Illinois in 2021.…

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