–by Dr. Jeff Whitworth
Many fields were sampled throughout southcentral and northcentral Kansas over the last couple of days. There seems to be very few insect pests affecting these soybeans, so far. There are some adult bean leaf beetles, which should be monitored as beans start or continue, setting pods as these beetles can start feeding on these new pods. There are a few adult Decte’s stem borers (fig. 1), but not many oviposition holes could be found yet. The only potential problem detected this week were grasshoppers. Weedy/grassy borders adjacent to many fields are loaded with grasshoppers. These areas are still lush and green so far, thus most grasshopper infested areas are still sufficient for these grasshoppers to feed in so they have not yet migrated to crop fields. However, there are some areas that have been treated with herbicides and thus these weeds are/or have died in these areas. Grasshoppers are/have moved into crops–in this case, soybeans (fig 2-3). Continued monitoring is highly recommended and please do not make a pesticide application “just in case”, and please send me an email if soybean aphids are detected.
Figure 1 Ductes Stem Borer (Cody Wyckoff)
Figure 2 Grasshopper hiding/ feeding (Cody Wyckoff)
Figure 3 “Chewed” Soybean leaf (Cody Wyckoff)