We have concluded our sixth week of slug monitoring reports. This week covers the monitoring period from May 25th to 31st. Temperatures in Ohio have finally started to warm up, and the plants are growing. In Wooster, we saw slug damage on soybeans that were planted on May 12th. While the slugs were not present when we walked through the fields, we noticed feeding damage and slime on some of the VE plants. Please take a look at our new “Slug Biology and Management” card that can be viewed here: “Slug_Biology_and_Management”. In addition, more information can be found on this slug fact sheet: Slug_Fact_Sheet. The slug shingle project is funded by the United Soybean Board.
We had a total of 20 counties monitoring 150 shingle traps across Ohio. This week, 9 counties reported finding slugs under their shingles (Figure 1), which is a slight decrease compared to last week with eleven counties reporting slugs. The statewide average remains consistent at 0.7, and we had a number of counties reporting an average of 1.0 slug or higher. These counties include Crawford, Harrison, Jefferson, Pike, and Washington. Please keep in mind that each county is only monitoring 1-2 fields, so even if your county is reporting “no slugs”, slugs are very sporadic and may be absent from one field and present in another. Make sure you are scouting your fields and looking for evidence of slug feeding (damage to newly emerging plants and slime trails are things to look for). Slugs are nocturnal, and depending on when you scout, slugs may not be present in the field.
