Insects

Japanese Beetle Management Guidelines

  • July 10, 2019

Japanese beetles (Fig. 1) have been arriving throughout Illinois over the last couple of weeks, and are becoming pretty conspicuous in some areas. Our crops are well behind their usual progress when Japanese beetle emergence occurs, which could impact scouting and management decision making. Several of my colleagues recently wrote an in-depth article on the history, distribution and management of this pest1; you can read the full open-access article here. Some notes on management follow by crop:
Corn: Silk clipping is the primary concern with Japanese beetle infestations in corn.…

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RSVP for the Champaign Pest and Pathogen Field Day!

  • July 5, 2019

Come to Champaign, Illinois on July 22nd for the first annual field crop Pest and Pathogen Field Day from 9am-noon.  Registration, doughnuts, and coffee will start at 8:30 am. Parking for the event will be available at the Agricultural and Biological Engineering farm on the UIUC South Farm Facility, located at 3603 South Race Street, Urbana, IL, 61802.  Click HERE to register.
Join us to walk research plots and learn about insect and disease identification in field crops,…

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Scouting for Early Season Pests in Corn and Soybean After a Late Start

  • June 7, 2019

It goes without saying that this spring has been a challenge. With extreme planting delays throughout the state, crop development is well behind normal expectations, while insect pest populations have continued to progress. In addition, the tight schedule we have faced has forced planting into less than ideal conditions in terms of both soil moisture and weed control, which can have consequences for insect pest management. There are a few pests in particular to target during early season scouting this season:
 …

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Insect Trapping Update: May 15

  • May 15, 2019

Cooperators around the state are monitoring black cutworm and true armyworm traps this spring.
 
Black Cutworm
Continued flights have occurred this last week, but at low levels overall. Reports of corn emergence have been trickling in and along with those reports are also those of black cutworm feeding. As a reminder, some management suggestions from Nick Seiter’s 2018 article (http://bulletin.ipm.illinois.edu/?p=4151):

  • Infestations are more likely in later planted corn, as delayed planting means larger cutworm larvae are present at earlier stages of corn development.

…

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Wheat Insects – What to Watch for This Spring

  • April 19, 2019

Consider adding some insect scouting to your wheat management routine this spring if you are not doing so already. While damaging insect pest infestations are pretty sporadic in Illinois, missing one can be costly. The first step in managing these infestations is knowing what to look for.
 
Aphids
 
There are several species of aphids that infest wheat in Illinois, and they can be difficult to tell apart without careful examination (the figure captions below provide some tips on how to identify the different species;…

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Grape Colaspis in Corn and Soybean: a Pre-Season Primer

  • April 16, 2019

Grape colaspis is a common insect, but it only occasionally affects corn and soybean production in Illinois. However, 2018 was that rare year where “outbreak” levels of infestation occurred in parts of the state, resulting in stand reductions and, in some cases, replanting of damaged areas. Information can be tough to come by for an occasional pest like this one, but I will summarize what we know and what we should expect going forward.
 
Biology.…

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Feedback sought on Pest Degree Day Calculator Upgrade

  • February 20, 2019


The Illinois Degree Day calculator has been available to Illinois producers since 2004. Hosted by the Illinois Climate Network (ICN), this pest management tool was developed to help aid producers in monitoring insect development throughout the growing season and aid in pest management decisions.
The calculator uses weather data from 19 network stations across Illinois to provide degree day accumulations and forecasts for 30 agricultural and invasive pests based on long-term averages. While this has been a great resource for many years,…

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What effect will cold temperatures have on pests and pathogens?

  • February 10, 2019

Nathan Kleczewski Research assistant Professor and Extension Field Crop Pathologist
Nick Seiter- Research Assistant Professor and Extension Field Crop Entomologist
 
Many in the Illinois agricultural community are wondering what effects the recent extreme cold might have on pests and pathogens. While it would be nice if the cold temperatures we are experiencing could help to reduce our potential for pest damage, past experience tells us that the most serious pests we deal with are unlikely to be impacted much by these conditions.…

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Field Performance of Seed Treatments and Soil Insecticides for Corn Rootworm Control

  • January 29, 2019

Authors: Nick Seiter and Joe Spencer
Producers across east-central Illinois have enjoyed low western corn rootworm pressure for several years, due to a combination of saturating rains during rootworm egg hatch and widespread use of Bt corn hybrids. Following a low point in the rootworm population in 2015, statewide monitoring of corn and soybean fields has documented a slow western corn rootworm population rebound in some areas.  Recent low corn pest abundance (combined with lower commodity prices) provides an opportunity to become reacquainted with rootworm monitoring and non-Bt options for their management.…

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Despite local Bt resistance, growers still have options

  • January 18, 2019

The development of resistance to Bt Cry toxins by the western corn rootworm is a growing concern, highlighted by the recent confirmation of field-evolved resistance to Cry34/35Ab1 in Iowa (https://www.agriculture.com/crops/corn/why-managing-corn-rootworm-just-became-more-complicated). Across the Corn Belt there are western corn rootworm populations with resistance to multiple Bt Cry toxins expressed in Bt corn. In Illinois, Bt resistance can be found in western corn rootworms from both continuous and first-year cornfields; rotation-resistant populations are vulnerable to Bt resistance.…

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