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July 30, 2010

ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER Welcome to Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES). The main purpose of this newsletter is to provide readers information about IPM and other major crop issues through a sin-gle publication. ALL articles that promote IPM and sustainable farming practices can be published in the IPM Communicator. Currently, there are about 400 subscribers and many commercial websites receive or post this newsletter online resulting in a wide readership. Other readers can download or view the newsletter at ACES website (www.aces.edu/go/128). There is a multi-institutional editorial board that works swiftly each week to elec-tronically deliver the newsletter every FRIDAY during the sum-mer months. Research and Extension personnel from any educa-tional institution in Alabama can submit IPM-related articles of high relevance for immediate release to the audience; authors should pay attention to the guidelines for format and submission deadline (Wednesday of each week). Readers from other states should check with their university Extension before using any rec-ommendation. To subscribe, please email [email protected]. Once your name is added to the list , you will get a welcome mes-sage from the IPM COMM Listserv.

Editorial Board:

Chief Editor: Ayanava Majumdar “Dr. A” – Extension Entomolo-gist & State Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education Co-ordinator, Auburn Univ. Board members: Henry Fadamiro – Associate Professor of Entomology & Plant Pathology Department, Alabama IPM Coordinator, Auburn Univ. Clement Akotsen-Mensah – Graduate Research Assistant, Ento-mology & Plant Pathology Department, Auburn Univ. Cathy Sabota – Professor of Horticulture, Alabama A&M Univ. Conrad Bonsi – Professor and Associate Dean, Tuskegee Univ. Author guidelines are provided on the last page of this newsletter. Articles may be delayed for publication if they are not in the rec-ommended format.

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE ON ACES: www.aces.edu/go/128

No. 12

IN THIS ISSUE… Section: Entomology The End of Endosulfan Cotton & Soybean Insect Pest Report Peanut Insect Pest Report Pest Alert (Repeat): Armyworms in Pasture Crop Production & Pest Management in High Tunnels Section: IPM in Home & Garden (no alerts) Section: IPM for Schools & Urban Areas Comeback Story for An Old Chemical Section: Plant Pathology (no alerts) Section: Weed Control (no alerts) Section: News Around the State (none) Section: Appendices Insect Trap Catches from Vegetable Fields Insect Trap Catches from Row Crops Guidelines for Authors

The Comprehensive IPM Newsletter from Alabama!

New in 2010

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Entomology

THE END OF ENDOSULFAN (Modified from EPA News Release on June 2010) Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated endosulfan’s risks and benefits. The EPA is going to end all uses of the insecticide endosulfan in the country. Endosulfan is a persistent, contact insecticide that has been in use by crop producers for over 50 years. Endosulfan, an aromatic hydrocarbon with oral LD50 of 86.6 mg/kg in rats, was also the last re-maining member of the Group 2 class of insecticides. It is currently used on many vegetables and fruits crops for controlling stink bugs, squash bugs, flea beetles, aphids and numerous other pests. EPA has determined that endo-sulfan poses unacceptable neurological and reproductive risks to farmworkers and wildlife and can persist in the environment. EPA adds that research data generated from 2002 onward have shown that risks from endosulfan to workers are greater than previously known. Farmworkers can be exposed to endosulfan through inhalation and contact with the skin. However, endosulfan is used on a very small percentage of the U.S. food supply and does not present a risk to human health from dietary exposure. Endosulfan also has various nontarget effects such as damage to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife; by entering the food chain EPA has found that endosulfan can also harm birds and mammals. Makhteshim Agan of North America, the manufacturer of endosulfan in the U.S., is currently discussing details of the phase out of endosulfan with EPA. EPA is currently working out the details of the deci-sion that will eliminate all endosulfan uses, while incorporating consideration of the needs for growers to timely move to lower-risk pest control practices. EPA’s phaseout is based on new data and scientific peer review, which have improved EPA’s assessment of the ecological and worker risks from endosulfan. EPA’s 2010 revised ecological risk assessment reflects a com-prehensive review of all available exposure and ecological effects information for endosulfan, including independ-ent external peer-reviewed recommendations made by the endosulfan Scientific Advisory Panel. For more information about this EPA announcement, please visit http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/endosulfan/endosulfan-cancl-fs.html.

Love your iPhone? Then you will like this! As many insect pest outbreaks are occurring in Alabama, the IPM HOTLINE for peanut and vegetable producers is now active and the messages are updated weekly. CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-446-0375 and select from the two menu options. You can listen to the weekly topics of this newsletter on the phone along with pest outbreak information. This IPM Hotline will operate for the rest of the summer season.

Alabama County map for reference Image: http://cmdistributioninc.com/assets/images/Alabama-Map.jpg

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http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/endosulfan/endosulfan-cancl-fs.html�




COTTON & SOYBEAN INSECT PEST REPORT Dr. Ron Smith’s Blog site: http://alabama-insects.blogspot.com/2010/06/first-blog.html We have reached the point in the season that it is difficult to generalize about the cotton insect situation statewide. Some fields have been sprayed while some have not. Some of those sprayed have received a pyrethroid while others have received a phosphate such as Bidrin for bugs only. Scouts are reporting that behind pyrethroid sprays they are finding escape worms in some fields and escape bugs (both plant bugs and brown stink bugs) in others. More escape worms are being reported in DP555 (sirge gene) then the Bollgard II varieties. As each day passes more field people are reporting Fall armyworms in blooms. It is suspected that the extreme heat has reduced the effectiveness of the pyrethroid chemistry. This happened in the early 1980's, with the earlier generation pyre-throids, when the temperatures approached 100° F. My suggestion would be to target the insect that is potentially the most damaging. If the problem is escape bollworms I would continue to select a pyrethroid. Use a high labeled rate, add some crop oil to the spray mix, and add a phosphate if high levels of bugs are present. If the problem is primarily bugs, then just go with a phosphate such as Bidrin at 1 gallon to 21-24 acres. If Fall armyworms are in the mix the pyrethroids will not give acceptable suppression. Under this condition, I would go with Diamond (9 oz) Steward (11 oz), Belt (3 oz) or Tracer (2.5 oz). Soybeans- A few green cloverworms and soybean loofers can be found in many fields at non damaging levels. The greatest insect threat statewide is likely stink bugs. The stink bug population has been primarily brown's up to this point. However, yesterday at the Gulf Coast Research Station, the southern green stink bugs were out numbering the browns. Also, at this site the recently discovered red banded stink bug was present and had done heavy damage to beans at the R-5/6 pod filling stage.

Dr. Ron Smith Extension Entomologist

[email protected]

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PEANUT INSECT PEST REPORT (WATCH FOR TOBACCO BUDWORMS!) This week I spent several days scouting peanut fields in Dallas, Lee, Barbour, and Dale Counties of AL to record insect pest activity. In this dry, southeastern part of the state peanuts in several areas could be growing un-der stress which makes them more susceptible to insect pests compared to healthy plants. Many moth pests are keen in finding stressed plants, so expect pockets of caterpillar outbreaks (nonthreatening to crop if peanut growth is lush). While I have noticed some increased incidence of spider mites (favored by dry conditions) in southeast AL, it was also common to see the three-cornered alfalfa hop-per or TCAH (in picture on right) throughout the state. So far I have not seen TCAH in outbreak situation but growers in southwest AL may see the outbreaks first (slightly wetter climate favors rapid completion of generations). You can read a lot more about TCAH in the 7th issue of this newsletter; just go to www.aces.edu/go/128. These hop-pers are about 1/4 inch long with a wedge-shaped body; nymphs have green spine on their body. For peanuts that are in bloom, a high infestation of TCAH could lead to damage to the lateral runners and terminals. Severe girdling (purple discoloration of stem above the feeding site) by hoppers could delay matura-tion. If treatment is needed, follow the recommendations in 2010 Peanut Insect & Disease IPM Guide available at https://sites.aces.edu/group/crops/peanut/factsheets/default.aspx. Only two IRAC Group of insecticides are recom-mended for TCAH: Group 1A = carbaryl (Sevin 80S) and Group 3A = syntheric pyrethroids like cyfluthrin, beta-cyfluthrin, gamma– and lambda-cyhalothrin (Tombstone, Baythroid, Prolex, Karate Z, etc.). Tobacco budworm (TBW) activity: This week I was not able to complete my insect counts from the traps that were sent to me from various parts of AL due to a profes-sional meeting. However, there is plenty of evidence regarding increased mating of TBW from traps in vegetables (page 9) and peanuts (page 13). Moth numbers in one peanut field in Henry County rose from 0 to 60 in 10 days in late July. Activity of TBW in Baldwin and Mobile Counties appears to be on the gradual rise too. Is this peak moth flight yet? I do not know the answer but I can tell you this that numbers in 2009 never exceeded 39 moths/trap in Henry County (in early August). So, it is clear that TBW moth and cater-pillar activity should be expected to be higher this year and crops sensitive to caterpillar feeding should be scouted first. Peanuts will be able to sustain more damage from caterpillar feeding but they will eventually support a large population of caterpillars of several species at this point. Just watch your peanut crop closely for defoliation and record any plant stress.

Ayanava Majumdar Extension Entomologist [email protected]

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https://sites.aces.edu/group/crops/peanut/factsheets/default.aspx�

PEST ALERT (REPEAT): ARMYWORM IN PASTURES Insect control recommendations: There have been numerous reports of armyworm outbreaks in pastures; produc-ers should immediately take note of the IPM recommendations for armyworm management in pastures. Below is a screenshot of some of the armyworm control recommendations provided by Dr. Kathy Flanders, Auburn Univer-sity. For more description or to download the entire publication (ANR-500A) please click here.

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http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0500-A/VOL1-2010/forage.pdf�

CROP PRODUCTION & PEST MANAGE-MENT IN HIGH TUNNELS For the benefit of new high tunnel crop producers, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) has put together a nice collection of Timely Information bulletins for reference at the following website: http://www.aces.edu/timelyinfo/#horticulture. Some of the high tunnel publications are as follows: 1. High Tunnel Suppliers (by Doug Chapman) 2. High Tunnel Construction (by James Miles) 3. Choosing a Fruit for High Tunnel Production (by Elina

Coneva) 4. Production of Cut Flowers in High Tunnels 5. High Tunnel Vegetable Production (by Mike Reeves) 6. Pest Management in High Tunnel Crop Production (by Ayanava Majumdar and Clement Akotsen) 7. High Tunnel Irrigation and Fertigation (by Robert Boozer, Ted Tyson, and Tony Glover) Below is an excerpt from the publication “Pest Management in High Tunnel Crop Production” and the full bulletin can be found at http://www.aces.edu/timelyinfo/Horticulture/2010/July/July_2_2010.pdf. High tunnel production allows manipulation of the environment and crops tend to be grown for an extended season which makes them attractive to many pests. Due to the open sides, hoop houses are considered semi-open structures with insect control benefits accruing from early crop production before insect pest population become too high. How does High Tunnel Microenvironment Moderate Pest Populations? Passive ventilation: Since ventilation under high tunnels is achieved by natural air movement aided by the rolling

sides, air movement could become restricted as the canopy thickens. This results in pockets of high tempera-ture and humidity inside the crop canopy. How ventilation affects insect populations? Many insects like aphids and whiteflies prefer high moisture con-ditions. Initial infestation of those insects may rapidly increase from favorable hot-spots.

Exclusion of rainfall: The plastic used in high tunnels forms a barrier to rainfall thereby necessitating the use of irrigation. How it affects insect populations? Rainfall is unfavorable to many insect pests not only due to the direct force of falling droplets but moisture also favors development of diseases that cause natural epidemics in insect populations. However, the lack of rainfall under hoop house reduces effectiveness of insect pathogens.

Planting density and diversity: High tunnels are limited by size and design; therefore, producers tend to plant crops in high density and mixes. Thus, many plant species may be grown by farmers under a single structure or monocropping may be favored. How plant variety and density affect insect populations? Polyphagous insects (that feed on plants belonging to different families) are serious pests of fruits and vegetables. Corn earworm (= tomato fruitworm), tobacco budworm, thrips, stink bugs, and aphids are a few examples of polyphagous insects that readily migrate be-tween host crops. With a diverse array of crops under high tunnels (Fig. 2), pest management could be diffi-cult due to insect migration between crops. Multiple cropping may also limit the use of synthetic insecticides due to thick planting.

High tunnel growers should understand that the structure itself may not exclude all insects and that field sanitation is still a big issue in minimizing pest outbreaks. You can use insect monitoring traps sold by various companies (Great Lakes IPM, Arbico Organics, Trece, Scentry Biologicals, etc.) and use them for first detection of pests. In the full article you can read about common insect pest issues and alternative management techniques. If you are an organic vegetable producer, then there is also a detailed listing of insect parasitoids and predators sold by Koppert Biologicals and Syngenta-Bioline that may be of interest. Visit the link provided earlier to download a PDF version of the IPM article. For further assistance regarding high tunnels, growers should contact a Regional Ex-tension Agent located at the County Extension Offices.

Dr. Ayanava Majumdar Extension Entomologist [email protected]

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IPM for Schools & Urban Areas

COMEBACK STORY FOR AN OLD CHEMICAL IN FIGHTING A NEW PEST PROB-LEM IN HOME Dichlorvos (DDVP), discovered in the 1950s and first marketed in 1960 by the Shell Chemical Co, is a highly volatile organophosphate. It has a legacy for a wide use as a fumigant to control household pests, in public health, and protecting stored product from in-sects. EPA first considered a ban on DDVP in 1981, followed by a long and controversial review of its poten-tial health risks, costing millions of dollars worth of test-ing during a 20-y period before a final determination that DDVP could remain on the market with certain re-striction. As one of the greatest comeback stories for a pesticide, in 2009, US EPA granted a supplemental reg-istration to control bed bugs with DDVP-containing Nuvan Prostrips™ (shown in picture), which is a vinyl strip incorporated with the volatile insecticide to extend its persistence. Dr. M.F. Potter in Kentucky University recently evaluated the ability of Nuvan Prostrips to control bed bugs in various household items by confining bugs and eggs in different objects including suitcases, shoes, framed pictures, book, clock radios and computer keyboards. The objects provisioned with bed bugs were placed inside 5.5 cubic foot cages, and in each cage the Nuvan Prostrip was hung inside. The cages were then sealed and kept at 72.5F. Dr. Potter observed that in artwork and suitcase 100% of the adults and nymphs were killed in 7 days, while it took 14 days to get 100% mortality in a clock. In all the tested objects, almost all the eggs were killed in 14 days except for book (only about 55% mortality). However, it will take more than 14 days to kill all the adult and nymphs in keyboard, shoes and books. These findings indicate that Nuvan Prostrips can be a valuable tool for killing bed bugs and their eggs on or in objects that are hard to treat using conventional methods. However , the mentioned study was conducted by confining the bedbugs in a small containers placed inside the test objects, the results are not indicative of what will happen under field conditions where live bed bugs could leave these items and be more exposed to the lethal va-pors. Dr. Potter predicts that faster results with DDVP on bed bugs are expected in the near future when the manu-facturer introduces liquid and aerosol formulations.

Dr. Xing Ping Hu Extension Specialist

[email protected]

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BEET ARMYWORM (BAW) Observation period

County Scout Late May Early June Late June Early July Late July Remarks

Lauderdale Chris Becker - 2

Limestone Doug Chapman - 2

Marshall Eddie Wheeler 0 0 0

Clay Chip East - 2

Cleburne Chip East - 0 0

Chilton Bobby Boozer - - 0

Dale Earl Snell - 4

Barbour Russell Bean - - 0

Geneva Neil Kelly - - 6 70

Mobile-1 Chazz Hesselein - 0 5 7

Mobile-2 James Miles - - - 72

Baldwin-1 A. Majumdar 1 12 4 0 10

Baldwin-2 A. Majumdar - 0 2 14

Baldwin-3 George Huckabay - 48 66 118 PEST WATCH!

APPENDIX-1

Numbers in the table correspond to trap catches which is a product of insect abundance and activity. Counties are arranged from north to south Alabama. Watch for the insect species that have been caught in high numbers (bold).

INSECT TRAP CATCHES IN VEGETABLES (COMPILED BY DR. A)

FALL ARMYWORM (FAW) Observation period





Clay Chip East - 0



Dale Earl Snell - 0




Mobile-2 James Miles - - - 73 PEST ALERT!



Baldwin-3 George Huckabay - 2 60 13 PEST ALERT!

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CABBAGE LOOPER (CL)

Observation period

County Scout Late May Early June Late June Remarks



Clay Chip East - 1


Dale Earl Snell - 1

Mobile-1 Chazz Hesselein - 1 1

Baldwin-1 A. Majumdar 0 2 10 Slow increase

Baldwin-2 A. Majumdar - 2 2

Baldwin-3 George Huckabay - 7 11

Early July

0

12

5

20





Late July

1


SOYBEAN LOOPER (SL)

Observation period

County Scout Late May Early June Late June Early July



Clay Chip East - 0


Dale Earl Snell - -


Baldwin-1 A. Majumdar 0 0 0 1


Baldwin-3 George Huckabay - 6 6 9

Remarks

Low activity




Late July

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INSECT TRAP CATCHES IN VEGETABLES (contd.)

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TOMATO FRUITWORM/CORN EARWORM (CEW)

Observation period




Clay Chip East - 3


Dale Earl Snell - 4


Baldwin-1 A. Majumdar 0 0 3



Early July

1

3

1

23





Late July

0

9

TOBACCO BUDWORM (TBW)

Observation period




Clay Chip East - 0


Dale Earl Snell - 5





Early July

8

0

1

4





Late July

1

Mobile-2 James Miles - - - 12 PEST ALERT!


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BLACK CUTWORM (BCW)

Observation period




Clay Chip East - 1


Dale Earl Snell - 0

Mobile-1 Chazz Hesselein - 3 1 Low activity




Early July

12

1

1

4




Late July

0

Geneva Neil Kelly 0 0


10

LESSER CORNSTALK BORER (LCB)

Observation period





Clay Chip East - 12



Dale Earl Snell - 0




Mobile-2 James Miles - - - 77 PEST WATCH!



Baldwin-3 George Huckabay - 57 86 128 PEST WATCH!


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TOMATO PINWORM (TPW)

Observation period




Clay Chip East - 0


Dale Earl Snell - 0


Baldwin-1 A. Majumdar 0 0 0 Low activity



Early July

0

0

2

0





Late July

0

SQUASH VINE BORER (SVB)

Observation period





Clay Chip East - 2



Dallas Rudy Yates - - 14

Dale Earl Snell - 18





Baldwin-3 George Huckabay - 2 2 20

No threat as crop harvest is in pro-gress throughout the state


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TRAP CATCHES IN ROW CROPS (PEANUTS/COTTON/SOYBEAN)

COMPILED BY DR. A

BEET ARMYWORM (BAW)

Observation period

County Scout Early June Late June Early July Remarks

Dallas Rudy Yates - 19

Washington A. Majumdar - -

Monroe A. Majumdar - -

Baldwin (GCREC) A. Majumdar 8 23 40 PEST WATCH!

Escambia George Huckabay 54 40

Henry (WREC) A. Majumdar 22 25 73 PEST WATCH!

Morengo Rudy Yates - 22

FALL ARMYWORM (FAW)

Observation period


Madison Tim Reed 1 13






Henry (WREC) A. Majumdar 2 10 15

CABBAGE LOOPER (CL)

Observation period





Baldwin (GCREC) A. Majumdar 17 22 10 No threat to pea-nuts.



Wilcox Rudy Yates - 6

APPENDIX-2

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INSECT TRAP CATCHES IN ROW CROPS (contd.)

SOYBEAN LOOPER (SL)

Observation period





Baldwin (GCREC) A. Majumdar 0 5 13



Choctaw Rudy Yates - 3

CORN EARWORM (CEW)

Observation period







Escambia George Huckabay 4 16 PEST WATCH!



TOBACCO BUDWORM (TBW)

Observation period

County Scout Early June Late June Late July Remarks






Escambia George Huckabay 1 25 PEST ALERT!



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INSECT TRAP CATCHES IN ROW CROPS (contd.)

BLACK CUTWORM (BCW)

Observation period





Baldwin (GCREC) A. Majumdar 0 0

Escambia George Huckabay 0 0 0



LESSER CORNSTALK BORER (LCB)

Observation period









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For more information please visit: www.website.com

ABOUT IPM COMMUNICATOR (contd. from page 1)

Archive: All editions of newsletter will be archived on ACES Publication, Alabama IPM Center, and many other public websites. Please contact the article author/s for additional information. The Editorial Board does not assume responsibility for any technical arti-cle or information published in this newsletter.

CALL FOR EXTENSION ARTICLES

Sections: IPM Communicator has many sections such as Entomology, IPM in Forestry, IPM for the Home & Garden, IPM in Schools & Urban Areas, Plant Pathology, Weed Control, and News Around the State. All sections may not appear in each edition if there were no submissions that week. Additional sections can be created if requested by author to accommodate IPM-related articles. Author guidelines: The IPM COMMUNICATOR is emailed weekly every Friday to 400+ subscribers. Articles must be received by Wednesday of each week to allow compilation and release. Use the format of published articles in this newsletter to develop your article. Please email finished articles to the Chief Editor in MICROSOFT WORD. Color pictures can be included in the article if it enhances the readability; authors must provide pictures and send information about the image source/s. SEND PICTURES SEPARATELY ATTACHED IN YOUR EMAIL. Email completed article to [email protected]. Articles should be written in easily understandable format; short articles will facilitate rapid reading by audience who typically scan publications for information. Long technical articles will not be published in newsletter unless it is a key story. The editor reserves the right to modify articles to fit newsletter format without affecting the technical details. Announcements for upcoming events is also published in the newsletter. Suggestions for improvement: Editorial board is always open to suggestions. Please email or call 251-331-8416 to provide your input to the Editorial board. Additional subscriptions: Please email [email protected]. Thank you for your support. For additional stories and events, visit www.aces.edu.

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