Statewide Surveys in Illinois Reveal Overall Low Numbers of Corn and Soybean Insects
Recently, statewide surveys of insects in corn and soybean fields were conducted in 28 counties across Illinois. The surveys were performed by sampling five corn and five soybean fields (randomly selected) per county during two periods (August 1 through 6, and August 14 through 16). In each cornfield, 20 consecutive plants were examined for western corn rootworm adults. In soybeans, 100 sweeps were taken (at least 12 rows from the field edge) per field. Densities of western corn rootworm adults exceeded the 0.75 per plant (continuous corn) or 0.5 per plant (first-year corn) beetle thresholds during the August 1 to August 6 time frame in the following counties: Christian (0.91 adults per plant),…