Neonicotinoids

Howdy,

  I'd like to let everyone know that the comment periods for clothianidin and thiamethoxam's preliminary pollinator assesment, and imidicloprid's aquatic ecological assessment are currently open. The focus is mainly on foliar applied neonicotinoids and not seed treatments. Producers, your comments are valuable. If you've got time, use the following links and click "comment".

Imidicloprid: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0844-1090

Clothianidin: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0865-0180

Thiamethoxam: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0581-0044

Dinotefuran: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0920-0017

  Grain across the three counties is mostly drying down, and we are continuing to see bollworms moving over to cotton from corn and sorghum.
  This week we've been seeing some bollworms in fields still, keeping with the pattern of high egg lay and some damage with few worms. If you've got more than 8-12 worms in 100 plants and 5% damaged bolls, consider treatment. Again, if you're seeing high numbers of caterpillars older than two days, give me a call. I still have some diet cups to mail caterpillars to College Station for resistance testing.
  There have been stink bugs occasionally across the area, once cotton gets to NAWF= 5 + 450 DD60s, stop sampling and treating. As cotton gets closer to cut out, the threshold for stink bugs can increase. Our cotton doesn't keep blooming for 8 weeks as is mentioned on the chart, but for the final week of bloom, it would be wise to use either the 50 to 30% threshold.

  Most of the later replanted cotton in Wharton county is close to peak bloom, while the rest in all three counties hovers from 6-8 nodes above white flower to nearly at cutout. The spotty showers we got over the past week hit Jackson and Matagorda county more than Wharton county. A few places in Matagorda county I heard got up to 7 inches of rain.

Spotted Lady Beetle in Cotton Bloom
Photo: Kate Harrell

I hope everyone has a good weekend and a happy 4th of July.

Sincerely,

Kate

For more information check out:

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast

Stephen Biles Mid-Coast IPM

Robert Bowling's Rolling with Bowling

Bollworms and Bees

Howdy,

  This week we've been seeing bollworm egg lay on the rise. So far most of the worms have been very small, between newly hatched and a day or two old. The damage has been mostly to squares and smaller bolls. Caterpillars closer to the one in the photo are easier to find in the blooms. This caterpillar probably fed in the bloom tag and then chewed his way into the boll through the flower. The hole in the very end of the boll is fairly indicative of that behavior. The flowers have low expression of the Bt genes, and caterpillars that start feeding there have the opportunity to grow larger before chewing into the fruit. If you're finding more than 8 to 12 worms in 100 plants and 5% damaged bolls, consider treatment. Also, if you are seeing higher numbers of caterpillars older than 2 days, give me a call. I've got diet cups to collect caterpillars to send to A&M for resistance testing.

Bollworm
Photo: Kate Harrell

  I found a honey bee swarm south of El Campo this week. Honey bees swarm like this when moving to start a new hive. The queen is down in the middle of the swarm, and they cover her up like this to protect her. This swarm was probably stopping to rest before moving on to a more suitable location for a new hive. When honey bees are doing this, they are incredibly docile. If you've seen the photo of the "bee beard", this is how they get that to work. They placed the queen on the person's face, and the workers covered her up. It's best to leave them alone if you find a swarm like this. They'll move on once they've rested.

Honey Bee Swarm
Photo: Kate Harrell

Give me or our office a call if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kate

Looking for more information? Check out:

Texas A&M Cotton Guide- Bollworms

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast

Stephen Biles' Mid Coast IPM

Bollworms

Howdy,

  This week we've been finding some stink bugs and some bollworms in cotton in all three counties. Currently we are mostly finding damage and newly hatched larvae. As the grain continues to dry down, expect to see more moths moving around. Bollworm eggs are small, round, generally singly laid, and have ridges meeting at the top of the egg. These insects are highly cannibalistic, and will eat each other if more than one larvae is on a leaf. The photo below has two eggs, but I would count this as one egg while scouting, since only one of those would live long enough to feed on the plant. The eggs can be found anywhere on the plant, generally on the tops of leaves. This week we have found more eggs in the mid canopy. Sometimes eggs are even laid on flowers and bloom tags. We're still finding stink bugs in cotton as well. This week we found a few nymphs in Jackson and Matagorda counties.

Bollworm Eggs
Photo: Kate Harrell

  Some of the cotton around has begun to get a little long in the internodes since the rain we got a couple weeks ago. The best time to use a plant growth regulator (PGR), mepiquat chloride (MC), is dependent on plant height and internode length. Plant height should be 30 to 35 inches in 30 inch rows, and in 40 inch rows should be no more than 40 to 45 inches. Optimum plant height should be predicted using row width multiplied by 1.1. MC suppresses stem elongation in newly formed internodes by up to 50% of normal growth. The minimum MC concentration in the plant necessary to provide a maximum level of reduction is 12- 15 ppm per acre, but internodes will not grow shorter than 50% of the normal length with higher rates. Before the plant has reached 15 to 20 days past first bloom, measure the top 5 internodes. If the internodes are 1.4" or less, no MC should be applied. If the internodes are between 1.4" and 1.6", treatment is optional. Treatment is optional in internodes measuring between 1.6" and 1.8", but if it has rained recently or you are planning to irrigate, treatment is recommended. If the internodes are longer than 1.8", MC should be applied. Check out this article for more information on PGRs.
  Headworms and stinkbugs are in sorghum right now. The best way to scout for damage from these insects is to use a bucket. Rattle a grain head around in a bucket to see what falls off of it. Adult stink bugs will fly, often very quickly after being knocked from the plant, so be aware of anything taking off when you go to look in the bucket. Folks in all three counties have been treating for stink bugs lately, but the earlier planted sorghum is hardening enough to be past the point of concern. Check out the rice stink bug calculator and the sorghum headworm calculator to check economic threshold levels.

Lady Beetle Eggs

  This week's bug of the week is the lady beetle. Recently I have given a few presentations on differentiating between good and bad bugs, and was surprised at the number of folks that had not seen lady beetle eggs before. Lady beetles lay brightly colored, yellow, oval eggs, in little groups or rows. The photo above shows typically laid lady beetle eggs.

  Give me a call if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Kate


For more information check out:

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast

Stephen Biles' IPM Update

Robert Bowling's Rolling with Bowling

Texas Sugarcane Aphid News

Texas Row Crops Newsletter

Using Mepiquat Chloride on the Texas Coast to Reduce Cotton Plant Height

Stinkbugs and Headworms

Howdy,

  This week most of the cotton I looked at is in full bloom. I've been seeing green and brown stink bugs and some bollworms. All three counties have had a few of these insects popping up. They are moving out of corn and sorghum as these crops finish out and the grain gets hard to feed on. I've also caught a few verde plant bugs in Jackson and Matagorda counties.

Spotted Lady Beetle in a Cotton Flower
Photo: Kate Harrell

  There is bollworm egg lay present in all three counties. The bollworms I've seen have been very small, and more often than not, we found damage, but no live insects. I'd recommend keeping an eye out for bollworms, and monitoring populations closely if you do find live insects in fields. If you are finding live worms and damage, look for 5% damaged bolls, and 8-12 out of 100 plants with worms. I haven't seen any fields at threshold yet, but after last year I'm staying on my toes.
  Later planted cotton in Wharton county is still experiencing fleahopper pressure as well. Check out the previous blog entry for economic threshold information on stink bugs.

Small Bollworm Eating Square
Photo: Kate Harrell

Bollworm Eggs
Photo: Kate Harrell

  Sugarcane aphid populations in sorghum have crashed after the rainfall last week and early this week. Populations have plummeted from Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley and on up to our area. There may be a few places with populations still hanging out, but generally numbers are down. Jackson and Matagorda county producers have had to treat for rice stink bug and headworms in sorghum as well. Calculators for sorghum midge, rice stink bug, and sorghum headworm economic thresholds can be found here.

Rice Stink Bug
Photo: Kate Harrell

  If you do still have sugarcane aphid populations, check out the economic threshold information below.

  If you want to receive text updates of the blog and when I post photos and information from the field to twitter, text "follow uppercoastipm" to 404-04, as shown in the photo below. If I post a photo, it will send you a link that you can follow to see the image. Text information will appear in the body of the text message.

  This weeks bug of the week is the ox beetle! The adult beetle feeds on decaying fruit and occasionally vegetation. They burrow to hide during the day, and fly at night. They live as adults for 4-6 months, but live as the larval form for about a year. The larvae look like giant June bug larvae, large, white, c-shaped grubs. Larvae feed on decaying organic matter (decaying wood and plant material) and help with the decomposition process. The beetle in the photo below flew into my garage door, attracted to the light on the garage. It sounded like somebody threw a golf ball at the door when he hit it. Check out more info on the ox beetle here!

Male Ox Beetle
Photo: Kate Harrell

Looking for more information? Check out the resources below:

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast in the Rio Grande Valley

Stephen Biles' Mid-Coast IPM Update

Texas Sugarcane Aphid News

Texas Row Crops Newsletter

Stink Bugs, Verdes and Bollworms

Howdy,

  This week has been a bit muddy, so I've been in and out of the field. The rain has perked up a lot of our cotton and corn, and we really needed it. This week I was picking up a few Verde plant bugs and some stink bugs (mostly green, a couple brown) in Jackson county. The damage I found was minimal, and I only found adult insects, no nymphs yet.

Verde Plant Bug
Photo: Kate Harrell

Green Stink Bug
Photo: Kate Harrell

Carpal warts caused by feeding damage
Photo: Kate Harrell

  With stink bugs and other plant bugs, it is important to look for feeding damage. The decision aid charts above have photos of feeding damage. The photo above shows the carpal warts on the inner wall of a boll. The lint and seed on this boll was also discolored. This is typical stink bug feeding damage. Adults can move around a great deal, they are strong fliers and may move out of a field quickly. Once nymphs start hatching out, we will need to monitor more closely for damage. They can't fly away, and can cause more damage over time without being able to leave. Check a minimum of 25 bolls for feeding damage, and at least 1 per acre of field. If 20% of the bolls are damaged and stink bugs are present, consider treatment.

Bollworm Eggs
Photo: Kate Harrell

   I have been hearing about bollworm damage starting to crop up in terminals and squares in Matagorda county. So far I haven't seen any live larvae, only empty damage. We need to start keeping an eye out for egg lay in fields and watching for larvae. Remember not to treat for egg lay, and if you are counting eggs, only count one per leaf. Bollworms are highly cannibalistic, and double egg lay like in the photo above will likely only result in a single larva.

Polyphemus Moth
Photo: Kate Harrell

  My polyphemus moth eclosed last week as well, above is the adult moth from the caterpillar and cocoon in some of my previous posts. It's a beautiful insect!

  Also, for those of you keeping up with the new world screwworm moving back into Florida, it has once again been eradicated. Check out the news release here.

Two-striped Walkingstick
Photo: Kate Harrell

  Last week I got a text asking about the insect in the photo above. This time of year two-striped walking sticks are mating, and they can be found in large numbers on sidewalks and walls. Normally they hang out in trees, but come down to find mates. 

For more information:

Danielle Sekula's Pest Cast #8- https://southtexas.tamu.edu/files/2011/07/PestCast_8_2017.pdf

Robert Bowling's Rolling with Bowling- http://betteryield.agrilife.org/2017/05/28/2-6/