Corn earworm in sweet corn trapping map for August 13-19, 2012

Corn earworm adults are still abundant in southern Michigan, although numbers have somewhat decreased since last week. On the other hand, numbers increased in Oceana County compared to last week.

Corn with fresh silk is most susceptible for earworm egglaying, thus place your trap near a field that still has fresh silk and monitor it every day. For more information on treatment schedules, thresholds, traps and lures, see the article Corn earworm activity is beginning in Michigan sweet corn fields.

It is recommended that those growers with Bt corn use the same spray schedule as growers with non-Bt corn due to relatively high insect pressure in August. Most commercially available Bt corn is able to stunt the growth of corn earworms, but the caterpillar can stay alive in this type of corn.

See the map below for corn earworm activity in pheromone traps for August 13-19, 2012.

Corn earworm map
Numbers on map represent the number of corn earworms
caught between August 13-19, 2012. Each number is the total
number of moths caught during a week in a single pheromone
trap placed near a sweet corn field.

To learn more about corn earworm biology, trapping and management, see the recent MSU Extension News articles:

Dr. Szendrei's work is funded in part by MSU's AgBioResearch.

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