You may now add a second county to our Plataspid bug finds in Alabama. I captured a single specimen while sweeping kudzu in Cherokee County, Alabama, on Monday November 2nd. The location was on US Highway 278 about 4 miles from the Georgia state line. This site by air is just a few miles north of Dr. Charles Ray's finding on October 23rd in north Cleburne County.
In my last blog on 10/27 I stated that no damage to soybeans was observed from 2010 infestations. However, based on information from Dr. Phillip Roberts, University of Georgia, yield losses may have occurred. Additional information will be available in the following months. Stay Tuned.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Plataspid (Kudzu) Bug in Alabama
Surveys of kudzu were conducted in Lee, Chambers, Randolph, Cleburne and Cherokee counties on October 26, 2010, and no kudzu bugs were observed. These particular counties were selected for surveys since they are adjacent to Georgia counties where the bug has been reported.
However, when I arrived back in my office on October 27, 2010, I had an email from Dr. Charles Ray, Auburn University Plant Diagnostic Lab, reporting a single find, an adult plataspid (collected Oct. 23) on kudzu in northern Cleburne county. To our knowledge this is the first find in Alabama.
This insect, a native to Asia, was first reported in October 2009 in nine northeast Georgia counties near Athens, Georgia. Since that time they have spread to more than 60 north and central Georgia counties as well as most South Carolina counties and a couple in North Carolina.
The adults are 4-6 mm long, oblong, olive-green colored, and produce a mildly offensive odor when disturbed. In the fall this bug attempts to overwinter in houses, churches and other structures. Therefore, they become a nuisance pest as they congregate on walls and windows of buildings.
During the spring and summer they feed on kudzu and were observed in heavy numbers on soybeans in 2010. They are known to feed on legumes in general. No damage was observed or measured on soybeans. Dr. Phillip Roberts conducted several control trials and found that a number of our row crop insecticides gave good control.
However, when I arrived back in my office on October 27, 2010, I had an email from Dr. Charles Ray, Auburn University Plant Diagnostic Lab, reporting a single find, an adult plataspid (collected Oct. 23) on kudzu in northern Cleburne county. To our knowledge this is the first find in Alabama.
This insect, a native to Asia, was first reported in October 2009 in nine northeast Georgia counties near Athens, Georgia. Since that time they have spread to more than 60 north and central Georgia counties as well as most South Carolina counties and a couple in North Carolina.
The adults are 4-6 mm long, oblong, olive-green colored, and produce a mildly offensive odor when disturbed. In the fall this bug attempts to overwinter in houses, churches and other structures. Therefore, they become a nuisance pest as they congregate on walls and windows of buildings.
During the spring and summer they feed on kudzu and were observed in heavy numbers on soybeans in 2010. They are known to feed on legumes in general. No damage was observed or measured on soybeans. Dr. Phillip Roberts conducted several control trials and found that a number of our row crop insecticides gave good control.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Cotton Insect Loss Estimates Made
2010 was one of the lightest insect years on record. Loss estimates range from a total of 5.2% of yield in central and south Alabama to 3.6% in the Tennessee Valley region. Most of these losses were attributed to one insect (pest) in each region. For the southern region it was the stink bug, predominately the brown species (3.5%), and for the north it was spider mites (2.3%). Other insects that caused measurable losses were the bollworm (lowest in 38 years), plant bug, and thrips.
Soybeans
Older beans mature and shedding leaves. Younger (wheat) beans filled pods rapidly during the past 2 weeks.
Cotton
Harvest continued at a rapid pace during weeks of 9/12 to 9/18 and 9/19 to 9/25. Many fields are falling into the range of 500 lbs +/- 100 lbs lint.
Weather
Continued hot with 90°+ days and 70°F nights through 9/25. The first significant rainfall in weeks occurred on 9/26. Rainfall was not uniform but varied from 0.1 inch up to 4.0 inches.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Soybeans
- Looper populations seemed to have peaked out. In most instances defoliation was between 5 and 20% where no controls were applied. Therefore, populations were below threshold level in most fields.
- Velvetbean caterpillars were found at damaging levels in one field of late maturing beans (R-4/5) in Baldwin county on September 12th. Velvetbean caterpillars are much more economic to control than loopers since pyrethroids do a nice job on VBC.
- Velvetbean caterpillars were found at damaging levels in one field of late maturing beans (R-4/5) in Baldwin county on September 12th. Velvetbean caterpillars are much more economic to control than loopers since pyrethroids do a nice job on VBC.
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