Fleahoppers and Sugarcane Aphids

Howdy,

  The cotton in Wharton county ranges from cotyledon to half grown squares. In Jackson and Matagorda county all the cotton I have looked at is squaring nicely. Nearly everything has some wind damage. The nicest looking cotton I've looked at in Wharton county was near a tree line that blocked the wind. I'm hoping the wind will let up and we can catch a little rain soon. This week I saw more adult fleahoppers in cotton, but I've seen very few nymphs so far. There were a few fields at threshold this week in all three counties. Fleahopper feeding will cause squares to drop, and plants can recover for and compensate for some square loss. The threshold for fleahoppers is 15-20 per 100 plants.

Cotton Fleahopper
Photo: Kate Harrell

  I'd also like to note that Texas received approval for a Section 18 for use of Transform in cotton to control plant bugs. This label is good until the end of October. The rate for plant bug control with Transform is 1.5 - 2.5 oz/acre, with no more than a total of 8.5 oz/acre per year used, and no more than 2 consecutive applications per crop. Don't apply within 14 days of harvest, and don't make applications less than 5 days apart. The label can be found here.
  Dani Sekula, in the valley, reported seeing some tarnished plant bugs, and a few isolated fields with verde plant bugs and stinkbugs. She also had a few fields in her area treated for red spider mites. The aphid numbers have been crashing in the valley as the beneficials catch up with them.

Sugarcane Aphids
Photo: Kate Harrell

   Sugarcane aphid populations are present in sorghum fields in Wharton, Jackson and Matagorda counties. I heard of fields at threshold and being treated in Matagorda county. Populations in Wharton county seem to just be moving in to sorghum. The colonies I found were small, on the edges of the field, and contained a winged aphid. Check out techniques and timing recommendations for checking sugarcane aphids in the chart below. Transform and Sivanto are the two chemicals labelled for use on sugarcane aphids in sorghum.
  Stephen Biles has been seeing low numbers of sugarcane aphids in Calhoun, Refugio and Victoria counties. Everything so far has been along the edges of the fields, similar to what I have seen in Wharton county.

Lady Beetle Eggs
Photo: Kate Harrell

Sugarcane Aphids and Lacewing Larva
Photo: Kate Harrell

  I would like to mention that today I saw a few flags out marking the herbicide technologies. If you need flags to mark your herbicide tolerance, contact either your seed sales rep or your chemical retailer to get flags. It never hurts to double check a chemical label, either. It's always good to know the recommendations for any application. 

  The bug of the week this week was brought to me last week as a lovely caterpillar, and has now moved on to the pupal stage. It's a polyphemus caterpillar, and is one of our very large native silk moths. They eat a variety of broad leaf trees and shrubs. They are commonly found on oak trees, but this particular caterpillar was on (what was left of) an azalea. For size reference, the pink thing in the photo of the caterpillar is a pencil, the caterpillar was larger than my thumb. The cocoon is in the corner of a reusable grocery bag. I'll keep you updated on its progress! 

Polyphemus caterpillar, left


Polyphemus cocoon, right

Photo: Kate Harrell

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and have a great weekend.

Kate

Looking for more information? Check out the resources below.

Dr. Gaylon Morgan and Dr. Josh McGinty's most recent Texas row crop newsletter on the Varying Tolerances to Liberty Applications in Cotton Varieties can be found at the link below:

http://agrilife.org/texasrowcrops/2017/05/05/varying-tolerances-to-liberty-applications-in-cotton-varieties/

Danielle Sekula, the IPM agent in the valley, posted her most recent Pest Cast Newsletter at the link below:

https://southtexas.tamu.edu/files/2011/07/PestCast_5_2017.pdf

Stephen Biles, the IPM agent in Calhoun, Refugio and Victoria counties most recent newsletters for sorghum and cotton can be found at the following websites:

http://agrilife.org/mid-coast-ipm/2017/05/05/sorghum-of-the-mid-coast-may-5-2017/

http://agrilife.org/mid-coast-ipm/2017/05/05/cotton-of-the-mid-coast-may-5-2017/