Insect Chewing

Fruit and Vegetable News, Volume 12, Issue 4 (July 15, 2021)

It's time to start scouting for podworms (Helicoverpa zea) in double-crop soybeans. There have been reports of high numbers of small and young pod worms and soybean loopers in double-crop soybean on the Delmarva. Podworms prefer fields that are flowering, open canopy, and stressed and have been recently sprayed with a non-selective insecticide. Their population can be spotty, so one field can be high while the field next to it is low, so the only way to know what is happening in a particular field is to sample it. You can sample for podworms using either a sweep net or drop cloth.

The Asian Longhorned beetle (ALB), native to eastern China and Korea, is a wood-boring pest which feeds on a number of hardwood trees, eventually killing them, impacting both urban trees and forested sites. Wildlife habitat will be impacted due to loss of forest shelter and food sources. Industries such as such as lumber, maple syrup, nursery, commercial fruit, and tourism will feel an economic impact.

I have gotten several emails and calls from growers in different areas of the state reporting they are seeing the beginnings of squash vine borer problems in their pumpkins or squash crops. IF you rotated at least 1/2 mile from your squash/pumpkin fields of last year you should be OK, however, I know some growers either cannot rotate or they cannot rotate very far from last year’s crop.