If corn borers are caught in traps, then begin looking in grassy areas around near your field. Growers are encouraged to use pheromone traps and/or black light traps to determine if corn borer moths are active and when treatments should be applied to control small larvae before they enter the pepper pod. Inspection of pepper leaves for corn borer egg masses and young larvae is impractical and ineffective. ManagementĪbundance of European corn borers varies from year to year. The second, or midsummer generation, is most likely to cause problems for commercial pepper producers. A partial third generation may occur in some years in early September.
The second generation develops from late July through August. The first appears in late May through early June. There are two to three generations of this pest each year. Once under the calyx, they are protected from insecticides and natural enemies. Within 2 to 24 hours after hatch, young larvae reach the calyx of the pepper pods. Newly hatched larvae, about 1/16 inch long, leave the mass and crawl toward the developing pods. When a distinct black spot, the head of the larva, can be seen in the egg, it will hatch in about 24 hours. Age of the egg mass is indicated by its color: freshly laid eggs are white, then cream. Often they are placed on the underside of the pepper leaf near the midrib. Eggs are round and flattened and overlap each other like fish scales. Calm warm nights are most favorable for moth activity while few eggs are laid on windy, stormy nights.Įuropean corn borer eggs are laid in masses of 15 to 30 eggs per mass. Weather conditions during egg laying can greatly affect the severity of corn borer problems. Females fly into fields at night to lay their eggs. European corn borer is less common since the introduction of Bt corn.Įuropean corn borer moths tend to congregate in tall grassy areas around field margins, called action sites. In addition, plants may break due to tunneling by the borers in the stems.įigure 1. In this way, one larva can damage several pods. When rotting begins, borers often leave and move to infest new fruit. EUROPEAN CORN BORERĮuropean corn borer can cause severe damage to peppers through damage to the fruit and premature drop of small fruit. Borer entrance holes in larger pods allow water to enter, resulting in fruit rot. However, as with most insects encountered in the Midwest USA, populations of individual pests vary from year to year and location to location, reinforcing the need to routinely monitor pepper fields. This includes European corn borer and beet armyworm that attack the fruit (direct pests) as well as insects attacking the foliage such as aphids (indirect pests). Pepper production in Kentucky is plagued by moderate levels of insect pests. University of Kentucky College of Agriculture ENTFACT-301: Common Insects Attacking Peppers | Download PDF by Ric Bessin, Extension Specialist
0 kommentar(er)
