Extension

Monitoring and scouting adult carrot weevil activity in commercial fresh parsley fields

We continue to support specialty crop producers in Ohio in their efforts to monitor and manage the carrot weevil, a key pest of carrots, parsley, and celery in muck soil regions surrounding the Great Lakes.

Monitoring adult carrot weevil activity can be challenging because these insects are small and cryptic. If it is early in the season (before crops have germinated) the best strategy to detect adults is to deploy wooden Boivin traps baited with a single carrot on the edges of fields that were infested the previous year. Here’s a link to a helpful factsheet created in the lab: Monitoring carrot weevils using wooden Boivin traps.

If it’s later in the season and crops have germinated in the field, wooden Boivin traps are not as effective for detecting adults. Instead, begin scouting fields for egg scars on the petioles of young plants. Although this is a tedious task, it is more reliable method for monitoring the activity of the elusive adults later in the growing season.

Investigating the emerging pepper weevil threat in North Central Ohio

The pepper weevil has emerged as an unexpected, but recurring pest of field peppers in north central Ohio. This insect is endemic to southern states and is unable to survive in northern climates due to the lack of host plants during the winter months. Along with collaborator Dr. Luis Cañas at The Ohio State University, we are working together with growers to (1) determine the origin of these unexpected pepper weevil infestations, and (2) evaluate the efficacy of cultural practices and pheromone-baited sticky traps to develop best management practices for these insects in commercial pepper fields. This researcher-grower collaboration is supported by USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant funding from The Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Monitoring tree and small fruit insect pests at Purdue Agricultural Centers

We are working to establish a monitoring network at Purdue Agricultural Centers (PACs) throughout the state to survey the seasonal activity of tree fruit pests, including codling moth and Oriental fruit moth, and invasive small fruit pests, like spotted wing drosophila (SWD) and the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). Our goal is to provide Indiana fruit producers with near real-time updates of first detection and changes in population numbers so they can plan management efforts accordingly.