It is time to start scouting cotton and soybeans for corn earworm also known as bollworm.
On Monday (7/26/21), we deployed 20 pheromone traps across 5 eastern counties to monitor corn earworm. When checking traps today (7/29/21), we counted a large number of moths in traps network located in Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash, and Wilson counties (up to 50-60 corn earworm moths per day).
Given the numbers observed in traps over the first 3 days of trapping, we could be in for a moderate to large flight this year.
Low numbers of corn earworm eggs were detected while scouting cotton and soybean fields adjacent to traps. Corn earworm eggs were also found in soybean at the Upper Coastal Plain Research Station located near Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Crop consultants reported significant egg laying in cotton in southeastern counties.
Proactive scouting for eggs and larvae will be an important step to head off crop damage in 2021.
We thank growers, county Extension personnel, and the NC Soybean Producers Association for supporting the pheromone and black light networks.
Several scouting resources are available through the NC State Extension portals for cotton and soybean:
Soybean scouting and thresholds
Cotton scouting recommendations and thresholds for 2021
