corn rootworm

Today, Matt breaks down a technical publication to Erin. This study evaluated the effect a lady beetle had on diamondback moth  in Bt broccoli. Turns out, the presence of natural enemies can slow down the rate of Bt resistance. They talk about implications for this research in Iowa, specifically for corn rootworm in corn. Read the full article here: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090366. 

In this episode, Matt and Erin start by talking about foliar insecticide sprays for soybean aphid. Erin has a large efficacy evaluation program and screens many different products every year. She publishes the results in a Yellow Book (see previous editions here: http://www.ent.iastate.edu/soybeanresearch/content/extension). Then Matt talks a bit about corn rootworm biology and why that might be important in Iowa soybean.