By — Dr. Jeff Whitworth, Dr. Holly Schwarting
Wheat fields sampled in NC Kansas over the last week have diminishing populations of aphids. Many fields had to be sampled relatively vigorously to find any aphids. However, lady beetles are still quite plentiful which should bode well for not allowing the aphid populations to rebound.
Scattered white heads are starting to be easily distinguished in the green wheat. If the stem pulls out easily, with some apparent feeding in the stem, this is from the wheat stem maggot.
The number of infested stems in always negligible relative to yield loss but often causes concern because of the easily noticed white heads.