Fall Armyworm Update
We just completed our 18th week of monitoring moth pests in Ohio ran from August 18th and August 24th. This week we had 15 counties monitoring for FAW moths. The statewide average was 7.2 over the past week, which continues on the upward trend, but low compared to previous years. The highest average was from Hancock Co. with 53.7 moths. As a reminder, there is a lot of variability by location – one trap caught 97 moths, another caught 9 – within the same county. A complete list of county averages is shown on the map below (Figure 1).
For more information on FAW biology and management, visit our factsheet at https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/ent-0093
Fall Armyworm Moth Map
Week #4
August 18th – August 24th
Figure 1. Fall Armyworm (FAW) moths captured from August 18th to August 24th. The bold number indicates the average moth count for the week, followed by the total number of traps in that county.
Other Lep News
Now is a good time to be scouting your fields for many different caterpillar pests. Over the past week we have received some reports of increased corn earworm numbers. Please make sure you scout your fields for larvae, especially if you have late-planted sweet corn.
Also, a report of European corn borer larvae found in western Ohio. The larvae of this pest bore into the plant stalk, so they are not visible from the outside. An indication of ECB may be that part of the corn plant is dead, so if you inspect the plant closer by breaking the stalk open, larvae inside (Figure 2).
Figure 2. European corn borer larvae inside corn stem. Image courtesy of Curtis Young, Van Wert County.