Pollinators and Beneficial Insects

Matt and Erin are back in the swing of podcasting after a long winter. But the pandemic means they can record the episode in their sweatpants! Matt provides an update on brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive species on the rise in Iowa and Japanese beetle activity. Erin gives a short recap of recent pest conditions in soybean, noting wireworms. Matt wraps up the conversation with a newly-designed F.I.T. 

In this mid-June episode, Matt and Erin start off by summarizing current soybean aphid activity around the state of Iowa. Populations are showing up over much of northern Iowa the last two weeks. Some fields have approached infestations ranging from 10-50%, although the density per plant remains low. Under ideal conditions, these populations could exceed the economic threshold in a few weeks. Brian Lang also found an aphid mummy, which is also early compared to most summers. Erin talked about a new publication for European corn borer that is available at the ISU Extension Bookstore. The 12-page pub reviews identification, life cycle, plant damage, scouting and treatment recommendations for this devastating pest. In their new segment, Matt talks semantics about how to spell one of the most widely recognized insects in the world. 

Today, Matt and Erin have so much to talk about in this episode. The multiple phone calls and people stopping by Erin's office can't stop the podcast. Lab members found a few soybean aphids in central and northeast Iowa. This is not too surprising because a few soybean aphids can usually be found in June. Populations are very low, but something to note as the field season continues.

The first soybean aphids of the year were found in northeastern Iowa. Photo by Greg VanNostrand. 

The warm winter was helpful to those insects trying to overwinter in Iowa, particularly for bean leaf beetle. For the other crop in Iowa, corn rootworm egg hatch is peaking, stalk borers are moving to corn, and European corn borer egg hatch is also happening now. Then the conversation turned to millipedes - not a typical field crop pest. They talk about field conditions conducive to millipede injury, in addition to other emerging pests like slugs, snails and isopods. Finally, Matt reminded us Pollinator Fest is coming up at Reiman Gardens in Ames on June 25. 

Random fact: Millipedes are arthropods within the class Diplopoda. They are distant relatives to insects and arachnids. People who study millipedes are called diplopodologists. 

Millipede. Photo by David Cappaert, www.ipmimages.org.