Sweet Corn Pheromone Trap Network for Western New York, 2008

This is a seasonal scouting report giving growers in the Western New York area information on the presence of sweet corn pests and recommendations on scouting and thresholds. The report is written by Abby Seaman, NYS IPM's Area Extension Educator for Vegetables.

For 6/10/08

European corn borer moths were caught at nearly all locations reporting this week with numbers in the hundreds at one location.  Egg masses were found in two fields at the tassel emergence stage (Penn Yan and Interlaken), and on emerging potato plants in fields that were corn last year.

Fields started under plastic or row cover that are near tassel emergence during the moth flight will not show the typical feeding on the emerging tassel that we see in bare ground fields, and may be subject to a lot of egg-laying compared with smaller plants in bare-ground fields.  One or more insecticide applications timed to kill newly emerged larvae before they tunnel into the plant will be needed to prevent ear damage in corn at or near tassel emergence during the moth flight.

According to the Wisconsin corn borer forecast model, which predicts peak trap catch at around 630 modified base 50 degree days, trap catches at some locations should peak this week, others are probably over a week away.

Degree day accumulations for many locations may be found on the NEWA web site.  Use the 86/50 option for corn borer forecasting.

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These pages are maintained by the New York State IPM Program, part of Cornell Cooperative Extension. All material is protected by Section 107 of the 1976 copyright law. Copyright is held by Cornell University and the New York State IPM Program.