Baute Bug Blog

Hi Everyone. 

I realize that I haven’t been blogging lately but I didn’t want to bog you down with frivolous things during busy times.  That said, I did want to take the time to wish you all a wonderful and safe Holiday.   And I wish you nothing but the best for 2010. 

If you have a bit of time during the holidays to surf the web, here are some interesting links for you to check out.

I get asked a lot about where to find great Insect Calendars.  Here are a few sources that I recommend:  

Entomological Society of America’s 2010 Calendar    and        Insect Calendars on Calendars.com

And for Insect Posters:

University of Guelph’s Insect Collection Posters

I am often asked where to find more detailed, higher level Insect Publications.  

Dr Steve Marshall from the University of Guelph has published a 736 page book filled with photos and short details on each insect.  It might be too high level for some but it is a great resource to flip through to try to find out which insect you recently caught to ID.    Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America

I refer to these next books all the time for field crop insect pests.  They are more expense as non-members of the society but they are worth it.  Entomological Society of America’s Insect Pest Handbooks.  I have many of these in my office so if you would like to see a copy before buying it, feel free to come and see me.

These are some of the most spectacular Insect/Arthropod photos out there:

 Igor Siwanowicz               Thomas Shahan          U of Guelph’s own Dave Cheung

And finally, if any of you have had a longer conversation with me, Ted.com usually comes up.  I am a huge fan of the talks on this site as they are some of the most inspirational, cutting edge and thought provoking discussions in the world.  I highly recommend that take the time to check out many of the talks on this site.  If you are an IT/gadgets freak you will be blown away with some of the near future technology presented on this site.  There have been a few interesting ones on insects too including:

Deborah Gordon Digs Ants   and   Dennis vanEngelsdorp’s Plea for Bees

Enjoy!

Just wrote an article and completed the map of the distribution of western bean cutworm in the Great Lakes Region.  Check it out in the latest CropPest Newsletter at:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/field/news/croppest/2009/18cpo09a3.htm

.

Anyone out there run some strip trials on soybean aphid this year in Ontario?  If you have data you’d like to share with us, please send it to my email .

Our research group has also run trials on some new chemistries and early season thresholds.  Once the data is compiled, we will let you know what the preliminary results are showing.

Happy Halloween Everyone.

More reports of WBC damage are coming in.  Here is an updated list of sites with damage and or larvae found in Ontario:

Chatham- Kent (Dover Centre, Bothwell)

Lambton (Petrolia)

Middlesex (Wardsville, Appin, Glencoe)

Elgin (Rodney)

Huron (Blyth, Clinton, Exeter, Dashwood, Holmesville, Belgrave)

Bruce (Walkerton, Kincardine)

Simcoe (Alliston, Barrie, Stayner)

Durham (Kinsale, Lindsay, Brooklin)

Victoria (Dunsford)

Peterborough (Millbrook)

Dundas (Chesterville)

I will be attending a meeting this week with my US counterparts where we will be discussing what each state/province has observed with regards to WBC and soybean aphids.  I will give an update next week on any new information from the meeting.

Sorry…It’s been a few weeks since my last blog but I finally went on holidays.  I’m back and want to give you an update. While away, more reports were coming in of western bean cutworm damage being found in Ontario.  Others are asking how to scout for the damage this fall so that they can determine if they have WBC.  So here is an update:

Counties (nearest town) reporting larvae and/or damage in 2009 include:

Chatham- Kent (Dover Centre)

Lambton (Petrolia)

Middlesex (Wardsville, Appin)

Elgin (Rodney)

Huron (Blyth, Clinton)

Simcoe (Alliston, Barrie)

Eastern Ontario – Dundas (Chesterville)

Anyone who finds damage/larvae in their field, please report it to me either via this blog or through email so that I can continue to keep track.

How to scout for WBC damage this fall:  WBC damage will not necessarily be in one specific area of the field.  Wander through the field looking for any signs of frass at the ear tips.  Look for any signs of external entry holes from the sides of the husk, though WBC do not always enter from the side of the ear.   Signs of bird damage can also indicate that there was something in the ear that the bird went after.  Though bird damage does not confirm that WBC was in the ear.  The birds could be going after picnic beetles, corn borer or corn rootworm adults too.  I have also had the odd hybrid that didn’t have a tightly closed husk at the ear tip and when there were signs of less silk or there was frass on the silk, I’d open that husk to investigate.  Otherwise, just peel back random husks throughout the field if no external signs of damage exist.  Once you have found an ear with damage and or larvae, investigate the plants around that one.  Check in that row and the plants in the rows directly adjacent to the initial plant with damage.  Odds are there will be more.  These larvae spread from their original egg masses and can crawl 12 feet down the row and 10 feet across.  So many neighbouring plants can be infested by just one eggmass. 

If a WBC larvae is not present in the ear that has damage, we can not fully confirm that the damage was caused by WBC as it could also have been from ECB or corn earworm..though WBC does tend to be the most destructive feeder.

Here is a scouting video through Purdue University that helps explain what I’ve talked about: http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/pestcrop/2009/issue21/index.html#westernWhat do you do if you find damage?  First, report the location of the damage to me.  Then keep an eye on the quality of this site before harvest.  If ear rot starts to set in because of the damage caused by WBC, plan to harvest this field as early as possible.  Additional precautions/actions that should be taken to reduce the impact of ear rot can be found in the Agronomy Guide, OMAFRA Publication 811 at: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/pub811/14corn.htm

 That is all the bad news I have for today

Pictures are also available in my previous blogs and on the WBC Trap Network website at:  http://www.cornpest.ca/default/index.cfm/wbc-trap-network/trapping-workshop/