Moth Trapping. Despite the use of Bt-transgenic cotton on about 95% of the acreage in Tennessee, bollworm and tobacco budworm compose an important pest complex. Bollworms may cause significant economic damage to Bt cotton fields, and the bollworm/budworm can be even more damaging to non-Bt cotton. More importantly, the threat of tobacco budworm infestations result in high adoption of Bt cotton. Resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in tobacco budworm populations makes distinguishing between budworm and bollworm infestations very critical in non-Bt cotton. Using a pyrethroid insecticide on a “worm” infestation which contains a significant percentage of tobacco budworms often results in serious economic losses. Area-wide monitoring remains a valuable tool in predicting the occurrence and size of pest populations. Pheromone trapping programs for bollworm, tobacco budworm, and beet armyworm provide insight into the timing and intensity of moth flights. For example, unusually high trap catches for a particular species can alert consultants and producers to the potential for impending outbreaks. When performed on a regional level and over a number of years, moth trapping can indicate historical and geographical patterns in the distribution of pest populations. Moth monitoring improves the decision making process, helping crop managers in the selection of insecticides and to indicate the need for intensified sampling efforts. This ultimately helps to minimize control costs and/or yield losses incurred by producers. Traps can also be used to collect moths used in assays for resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. Pheromone moth traps for corn earworm (CEW or bollworm), tobacco budworm (TBW), and beet armyworm (BAW) were run on a weekly basis from early May through August. Traps were located in cotton growing areas of each county and were usually placed on the borders of cotton fields. All pheromone lures were obtained from Great Lakes IPM (Vestaburg, MI) and were changed at two week intervals. At least one, and usually two, sets of bollworm and tobacco budworm traps were run in each of the following 12 counties in West Tennessee: Carroll, Crockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxx, Tipton, Lake, Lauderdale, and Madison. One beet armyworm trap was located in each of the above counties.
Moth Trapping. Moth catches for each trap were reported weekly in the Tennessee IPM Newsletter. The newsletter is distributed to agents, cotton producers, consultants and other agricultural professionals and is also posted on the internet at xxx.xxxxxxx.xxx. Tobacco budworm moth catches were similar to 2006 and 2007 with an early June peak reflecting emergence from alternate hosts. Most tobacco budworm moths were caught in Tipton, Haywood, Madison, Xxxxxxxx and Lake Counties. It is not surprising that very few fields of cotton were treated for tobacco budworm considering the low acreage of non-Bt cotton and the generally low populations of tobacco budworm. The highest single-trap capture was recorded in north Madison County where 47 tobacco budworm moths were caught the week preceding June 16. Catches of corn earworm (i.e., bollworm) moths in pheromone traps were also relatively low in 2008, although they were about twice as high as those observed in 2007. The bollworm is Tennessee’s most significant caterpillar pest in cotton because this species is able to cause economic injury to Bt cotton which composes the vast majority of the acreage. Peak trap catches during 2008 occurred in mid to late August, about two weeks later than usual and when most fields were too mature to be at significant risk. It is likely that the unusually late corn crop caused by heavy spring rains also resulted in a delayed emergence of corn earworm from corn. More corn earworm moths were caught in Madison, Xxxxxx and Lake Counties than other areas. The highest single trap capture was 223 moths in Lake County during the week preceding August 18. Few beet armyworm moths were caught in 2008 with an average peak in trap catches in August of about 10 moths per trap per week. The highest single trap catch was 72 moths in Lauderdale County during the week preceding August 18. Trapping did not necessarily reflect all local variations in pest densities observed in cotton fields, in part because trap density was not high and because other factors influence oviposition and survival of these pests in cotton. However, the pheromone trapping program did an excellent job of predicting the relatively late occurrence of corn earworm populations observed in 2008. This correlated well with reduced late season xxxx damage (see below). Average number of tobacco budworm (TBW), corn earworm (CEW), and beet armyworm (BAW) moths caught per trap in pheromone traps across West Tennessee (2008). Seasonal average number of t...
Moth Trapping. Despite the use of Bt-transgenic cotton on over 98% of the acreage in Tennessee, bollworm and tobacco budworm still compose an important pest complex. Bollworms may cause significant economic damage to Bt cotton fields, and the bollworm/budworm can be even more damaging to non-Bt cotton. More importantly, the threat of tobacco budworm infestations results in high adoption of Bt cotton. Area-wide monitoring remains a valuable tool in predicting the occurrence and size of pest populations. Pheromone trapping programs for bollworm or tobacco budworm provide insight into the timing and intensity of moth flights. For example, unusually high trap catches for a particular species can alert consultants and producers to the potential for impending outbreaks. When performed on a regional level and over a number of years, moth trapping can indicate historical and geographical patterns in the distribution of pest populations. They might even indicate resistance to Bt cotton, should, for example, tobacco budworm moth catches begin increasing over time. Moth monitoring improves the decision making process, helping crop managers in the selection of insecticides and to indicate the need for intensified sampling efforts. This ultimately helps to minimize control costs and/or yield losses incurred by producers. Traps are used to collect moths used in assays for resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. Pheromone moth traps for corn earworm (bollworm) and tobacco budworm were run on a weekly basis from early May through mid-August. Pheromone lures were obtained from Great Lakes IPM (Vestaburg, MI) and were changed at two week intervals. At least one, and usually two, sets of bollworm and tobacco budworm traps were run in each of the following 12 counties in West Tennessee: Carroll, Crockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxx, Tipton, Lake, Lauderdale, and Madison. At each location, Hartstack traps baited with Hercon® pheromone lure was used to trap for corn earworm (bollworm) and tobacco budworm. The trapping period in 2016 began in early-May and extended through mid-August. Traps were checked weekly, and the number of moths in each trap was recorded. Pheromone lures were replaced every second week. Outcomes: Moth catches for each trap were reported weekly on the UTcrops News Blog (xxxx://xxxx.xxxxxxx.xxx/) which was distributed to agents, cotton producers, consultants and other agricultural professionals. Few if any cotton fields were treated for tobacco budworm...
