Web Site: http://entowww.tamu.edu
Vol. 30, No. 5

COTTON

Cotton ranges from 1/3 grown squares to 2nd week of bloom. Scattered showers have helped some area farms where rainfall exceeded an inch. Square sets have remained in the high 80's to mid 90 percent range. Lygus bugs and fleahoppers remain light in most area fields. Emilio Nino, IPM Agent in Castro/Lamb Co. reported finding one field last week economially infested with Lygus. Some small boll shed has been observed, but the problem seems to be a lack of pollenation, which could be due to late Roundup applications.

Cotton aphids have been reported in area fields, but have not become widespread. Fields treated for boll weevils should be watched closely for this pest.

Cotton bollworm trap collections have increased dramatically at two locations and remained low at other farms. One trap west of Cotton Center collected 516 moths for a 2 day period on July 12 and 1,150 for the previous 7 day period. Another trap located north of Edmonson collected 673 moths for a seven day period ending July 11. These counts are high for this early in the season and blooming cotton could be very attractive to these moths which can result in significant egg lays. So far corn is still very attractive for oviposition which should help to alleviate the pressure on cotton.

Cotton boll weevil treatments continue with 26,315 acres treated in our eradication program area for the week ending July 7. The following table is a summary of the past few weeks.

Beet armyworm trap collections remained around 100 moths per trap per week by early last week, but were down to low numbers by weeks end. Larvae continue to be observed in area fields, but no major problems have been reported for this pest. When traps continue to exceed 100 per week we usually expect to see increased in field populations 7 to 10 days later. So far beneficials have been very effective for reduction of infestations, but keep on the lookout for this pest, especially if your cotton has been treated with an insecticide earlier.

SUNFLOWERS

So far sunflower moth populations remain very light, but be on guard as your field enters the bloom stage. Fields should be scouted daily during the bloom period for this pest.

The best time to scout is early in the morning or late in the evening, when this moth is likely to be found on the face of the sunflower. They are small (3/8 - ½ ") cylindrical shape, whitish to silver gray colored moths. During the day these moths can be observed resting on the leaf surface.

CORN

Southwestern corn borer trap collections are beginning to increase, even though trap counts remain low. Banks grass mites have been found in many fields, but populations have not reached damaging levels. Fall armyworms and corn earworms have been found in late whorl stage and silking corn. Corn earworm infestations in the ear seem to be much heavier than previous years. This is probably due to our reduced corn acres, which concentrated populations on these scattered fields.

SORGHUM

Corn leaf aphids remain very common in whorl stage sorghum. Also fall armyworms are common, but foliage damage generally remains less than 20%.

Cotton Bollworm/Corn Earworm
Trap Collections

Greg Cronholm, Extension Agent - IPM,
122 East 6th, P.O. Box 680
Plainview, TX. 79073-0680
806-291-5273
Ento. Dept. Website: http://entowww.tamu.edu
Dist. 2 Website: http://lubbock.tamu.edu
E-Mail: g-cronholm@tamu.edu

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