Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) adults continue to be very low, and no map will appear in this edition.

Fall armyworm (FAW) larval infestations have declined to fairly low levels.  Infestations generally are in the single digits to below 20%, but  FAW could increase dramatically with the arrival of  storms, resulting in significant injury to whorl and even seedling stage corn.  Injury from newly hatched larvae shows up as “window panes” or areas where leaf tissue has been eaten down the the lower epidermis. This injury leads down into the whorl.  As larvae gain size, they begin to consume leaf tissue in its’ entirety, creating ragged holes and lots of droppings.  FAW can be tough to manage because it is resistant to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (IRAC 3A) and because larvae are often covered by their own droppings, making contact with the insecticide more difficult.  Treat when 12% or more plants exhibit FAW injury alone, or in combination with ECB injury.

Corn earworm (CEW) moth captures increased through late last week, and then declined in the past 4 nights due to cooler temperatures.  This decline may be temporary, as we get into warmer weather late this week and into the weekend.  The current population poses a significant risk to silking corn.  Catches remain somewhat variable (see map at left), with green areas on this map representing a 3-day spray schedule.  For further information on CEW activity, see pheromone trap information below.

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 9/02/20 are as follows:

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Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) adults continue to be very low, and no map will appear in this edition.

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 8/26/20 are as follows:

Fall armyworm (FAW) larval infestations have stabilized at low to moderate levels.  Infestations generally are in the teens to low 20% range, but  FAW could increase dramatically with the arrival of  storms, resulting in significant injury to whorl and even seedling stage corn.  Injury from newly hatched larvae shows up as “window panes” or areas where leaf tissue has been eaten down the the lower epidermis (see photo at far left).  This injury leads down into the whorl.  As larvae gain size, they begin to consume leaf tissue in its’ entirety, creating ragged holes and lots of droppings (see photo at near left).  FAW can be tough to manage because it is resistant to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (IRAC 3A) and because larvae are often covered by their own droppings, making contact with the insecticide more difficult.  Treat when 12% or more plants exhibit FAW injury alone, or in combination with ECB injury.

Corn earworm (CEW) moth captures have increased in central and southern New Jersey blacklight traps over the past week.  Trap catches, both blacklight and pheromone, are showing signs of a possible large increase within a week.  The current population poses a significant risk to silking corn.  Catches remain somewhat variable (see map at left), with green areas on this map representing a 3-day spray schedule.  Note that there continues to be disagreement between blacklight and pheromone trap maps with regard to the southwestern counties.  See pheromone trap information below.

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 8/26/20 are as follows:

[Read more…]

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) adults remain very low, and no map will appear in this edition.

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 8/19/20 are as follows:

Fall armyworm (FAW) larval infestations continue at a fairly steady rate, except for coastal Monmouth County, where infestations exceeding 60% were found in whorl and seedling stage sweet corn.  This infestation was likely associated with the tropical storm of two weeks ago.   FAW could increase dramatically with the arrival of these storms, resulting in significant injury to whorl and even seedling stage corn.  Injury from newly hatched larvae shows up as “window panes” or areas where leaf tissue has been eaten down the the lower epidermis (see photo at far left).  This injury leads down into the whorl.  As larvae gain size, they begin to consume leaf tissue in its’ entirety, creating ragged holes and lots of droppings (see photo at near left).  FAW can be tough to manage because it is resistant to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (IRAC 3A) and because larvae are often covered by their own droppings, making contact with the insecticide more difficult.  Treat when 12% or more plants exhibit FAW injury alone, or in combination with ECB injury.

Corn earworm (CEW) moth captures have increased significantly in central and northern New Jersey blacklight traps over the past week.  This moderate mid-Summer population poses a significant risk to silking corn.  Catches remain somewhat variable (see map at left), with green areas on this map representing a 3-day spray schedule.  Note that there continues to be disagreement between blacklight and pheromone trap maps with regard to the southwestern counties.  See pheromone trap information below.

The highest nightly trap catches of CEW in black light traps for the week ending 8/19/20 are as follows:

[Read more…]