ECB numbers are down from last week at most locations, although Z race catches remain moderate at some sites.  Corn earworm numbers are mostly down, with the highest catches in the 9-10 range, but mostly zeroes and low single digits.  No fall armyworm or western bean cutworm moths were captured this week.

It’s time to start using scouting and thresholds in fields coming into tassel now and the next few weeks.  Scout as soon as the tassel is emerged enough that you can examine it for frass and newly hatched larvae.  The threshold at  tassel emergence is 15% infested plants, and scouting at this stage is pretty quick and easy, especially for fields that have not yet been sprayed, as any damage found probably indicates a live larva.  In fields that are over threshold, wait until 50% of the tassels have emerged before spraying.  The trick is to kill larvae while they are exposed in the opening tassel but before they have a chance to bore into the plant, where they will again be protected from insecticide applications.  Very uneven fields may need an additional application after all the tassels have emerged.  Keep in mind that this may be less than 7 days from the first application.