Page 30—Com Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 17,1993 Corn Rootworm Elson Shields Department of Entomology New York State College Of Agriculture And Life Sciences, Cornell During the past 10 years, western com rootworm (WCR) has established itself as the major insect pest of com grown for silage and grain in New York. Since the first detection of WCR iji western N.Y. in 1979, populations of this insect have continued to increase and have moved east to the eastern sea board. Results from field scout ing during 1992 have indicated that 60-70 percent of the conti nuous com fields in western and central New York are at high risk for economic loss from WCR feeding damage during the 1993 growing season. It these continuous com fields are planted to com in 1993, grow ers should consider the use of a soil insecticide. Corn Rootworm Biology and Manage ment; Two species of corn rootworm (CRW) can cause economic loss in our commercial corn fields. Northern com rootworm adult bee tles are bright lime green and have been inhabitants of our com fields for many years. The western corn rootworm, which is yellowish with dark stripes, has invaded New York only in the past few years and currently is most numerous in western and central New York. Adult CRW beetles are found in com fields from pollina tion until the first kill ing frost (late July September). During this time, the adult females are laying eggs in the soil cracks and around the bases of com plants which will overwinter and hatch in late May the following year. New ly hatched larvae locate the young com plants and begin feed ing on the developing roots. Larval develop ment and root feeding damage is completed by mid July; larvae pupate and emerge as adult beetles during late July and early August to begin lay ing eggs to complete their life cycle. CRW larvae dam age com by feeding on the root system and if present in sufficient numbers, will reduce com yields by inhibit ing the ability of the com plant to uptake water and nutrients. Recent field studies (1991-1992 growing seasons) using field plots artificially infested with WCR eggs by Paula Davis from the Entomol ogy Department at Cornell Uni versity has shown that com grown for silage is much more sensitive to WCR larval feed ing damage than com grown for grain. In general, root damage ratings of 3.0-3.5 have been considered the range of damage ratings where economic yield losses begin to occur. Results from the 1991-92 field studies indicated that sil age losses both years were eco nomically significant with a root rating of approximately 3.0 (100 eggs/row foot) and the value of the crop loss approxi mately equaled the cost of the soil insecticide used to control WCR larvae in com. By con- eerless • INCREASED BUTTERFAT FOR TODAY'S , . 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Yield losses from WCR lar val feeding demonstrated in this study were physiological yield loss (the com plant did not produce the yield) rather than harvest loss from lodging. Lodging of com plants usually occurs only after the root rating damage is 4.0 or greater. Fields at Risk: Fields planted to continuous com are at grea ter risk of economic CRW infestations than first-year com because CRW eggs arc laid the previous fall in existing com fields. Fields in continuous com production are more likely COMPUTERIZED FEED EQUIPMENT ROLLED FEED IS BETTER! 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AD+SOIL has over 12 years of experience with the beneficial use of sludge on cropland, hayfields and pastures. We do the permitting, hauling, and applica tion all at no cost to you. SERVING THE PA, MD, AND VA REGIONS For Further Information and Details Call: REGIONAL OFFICE MAIN OFFICE Rt. 5, Box 279 A 210 GALE LANE CHESTERTOWN, MD 21620 KENNETT SQUARE, PA 19348 (410) 778-6118 1 (goo) 752-3057 CONTACT: AD+SOIL CONTACT: TIM PILKOWSKI BOWMAN €©l3M TMM NEWS PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC. to develop economic CRW infestations the longer com is continuously planted to the field. Continuous com planted after late-planted com the pre vious year is at high risk because the late-pollinating com is attractive to the adult CRW, resulting in heavier than normal egg laying in the field. Management: Potentially damaging CRW populations arc managed by rotating the field to a non-host crop or by using soil insecticides incor porated in the seed bed at plant ing or cultivation. The need to rotate the field or use a soil insecticide next year to manage CRW can be determined by counting the number of adult CRW beetles per 55 com plants (5 plants in 11 different field locations within a field) in each com field during and shortly after pollination (see Cornell Extension Fact Sheet 501.00). If these beetle counts exceed 1 beetle per plant as a field aver age, the field is at high risk for CRW damage, providing the field is planted to com in 1993. If the field cannot be rotated and must be planted to com in 1993, then a registered soil insecticide is recommended at planting or during cultivation next spring.
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