Despite the heat, western bean cutworm activity is increasing. Trap catches over the past week have climbed significantly, indicating that peak flight is here or soon to be here. The counties that have accumulated the most moth catches so far include Chatham-Kent (544), Lambton (256), Middlesex (244), Huron (206), Haldimand-Norfolk (138), Essex (155) and Elgin […]
I have been negligent in not mentioning the newest insecticide to be registered for WBC control in corn. I have no excuse except that I been conveying product information through links to Publication 812, Field Crop Protection Guide and the product didn’t get registered for WBC control in time to make the printing deadline. So […]
Many questions are starting to come in regarding WBC. Just to help clarify what the action thresholds for western bean cutworm are, here is a quick summary: In Corn: Scout 10 plants in a row in 10 areas of the field. In non-Bt corn or transgenic corn that does not provide any protection against WBC […]
There is a lot happening out there. I am sure I am not aware of half of the infestations that are going on but at least I will report on what I do know. Western bean cutworm – Hot spot egg mass locations continue to be in the Bothwell area with now fields in the […]
There are a few fields in the Bothwell/Cairo area that are already above threshold for western bean cutworm. The fields we are finding most of the eggs in are those that are the most advanced in growth stage for that area. The fields we have found eggs in so far have all been transgenic […]
We are starting to see an increase in moth catches in our WBC trap network though we are still behind compared to last year. Last year by this week we were catching 10 moths per trap. We are not close to that yet. However, things could change quickly. Storm fronts can help bring in large […]
Anyone interested in participating in this year’s WBC Trap Network in Ontario is asked to contact us so that we can make sure that we have you on our list. If you have replied to an email from us already this month about trapping, then that is great. We’ve got you on the list already […]
Fact or Fiction #2 – “Some trap sites in 2010 were catching 1000s of moths per day!” This is completely false. At least from the data that came in to me from the 471 trap sites being monitored last year. No trap location caught more than 600 moths in ONE WEEK, let alone on a […]
There are a few “facts” about our western bean cutworm research being delivered to growers at various meetings this month that are not correct. I am sure the reps are not intending to mislead growers but I thought it was a good time to get the correct message out there, straight from the horse’s mouth, […]
2010 Western Bean Cutworm Trap Results for the Great Lakes Region. Numbers indicate the average number of moths accumulated per trap by county for the 2010 season. Shaded counties reported having WBC damage. Purple counties experienced economic damage (spray required or significant feeding found). *click on map to expand* Facts […]
I want to thank my loyal followers for making 2010 such a successful year for the Baute Bug Blog. I will have some pretty cool information on new pest research and management strategies to share that I recently learned about at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America. I will write about that […]
I am sure we will be talking about western bean cutworm all winter but there are a few key learnings that we gained in 2010 that I thought I would point out: 1. The dark bands behind their heads that we use to identify the larvae are not obvious until their last few stages of […]
Since my blog entry last week where I mentioned that we hadn’t found WBC feeding in dry beans yet, my crew as well as reps who have been sending photos in have found WBC pod feeding in dry bean fields at a few locations across the province. To date, sites known to have WBC pod […]
I’ve been in a lot of dry bean fields this week, mainly in Huron County. And I will admit that in a few fields, it was tough to sort out what was causing the damage. But so far, there are only one or two sites out of all of the ones I scouted that have […]
These next two weeks are critical for western bean cutworm scouting and management in dry beans. Peak moth flight took place at the end of July and pod feeding is typically expected 10 to 21 days after peak flight. Huron County is particularly at risk given the very high moth count for that county this […]