Good decisions for managing European corn borer depend on several biological and economic factors. Researchers from several states, cooperating and coordinating their investigations through the NC-205 Regional Research Project on Integrated Crop Management Effects on Stalk-boring Lepidoptera, are accumulating data to update the European corn borer management models they have developed. Over a 5-year period, the component of the management model that predicts the time of egg laying for the second generation has been tested in numerous fields in seven states. In all but one field, the model's predictions were within 3 days of the actual second-generation egg-laying period.

Simple management models for European corn borer are presented in the following sections with appropriate examples and calculation charts for reaching a management decision. More complex, yet easy-to-use, microcomputer management models are available from the Cooperative Extension Services at Iowa State, Kansas State, Pennsylvania State, and Nebraska Universities.

In regions where intensive management of corn production occurs, European corn borer is usually not the only pest. Pest management specialists operating in an intensive corn production environment usually are in each corn field once a week making observations and counts throughout the growing season. These may be included for European corn borer and other borers, rootworms, cutworms, mites, armyworms, diseases, weeds, moisture, and fertility. A pest management specialist needs to use his or her time efficiently. Consequently, adaptations made by an experienced pest manager to the following techniques are acceptable, as they better suit a weekly routine, without sacrificing data gathering.