European corn borer numbers remain low across the area.  Last week at a meeting in Oswego county we scouted a tassel emergence stage field with a good infestation of ECB in the emerging tassels.  I noticed that on some plants larvae had left the tassel and had moved to the developing ear, although the tassels had just emerged enough that it was time to spray.  I suspect that with the dry weather, the tassels were not emerging as fast as they would under more “normal” conditions.  Something to keep in mind for future dry years.  Earlier timing may be needed if tassels are taking a long time to emerge.

Corn earworm are being caught in numbers high enough to influence spray intervals at a couple of locations this week.  See the table below for recommended spray intervals based on CEW trap catches.  Fall armyworm are being caught in low numbers at a few locations.  Western bean cutworm are again being caught at all locations, with a big jump in numbers in Eden, but mostly numbers are similar to or lower than last week.  See last week’s post for information on WBC scouting and thresholds.

Trap catches for the week of 7.24-31.12