Every spring, cooperators throughout the state put forth considerable effort in trapping for the arrival and intensity of black cutworm moths. We are indebted to these faithful bug counters, hoping you also appreciate their efforts as reported in the “Black Cutworm Adult Pheromone Trap Report.” If you recognize a name or two on this list of volunteers, by county, please thank them for their efforts!
This year’s trap catches, compared to the previous four looked rather mediocre until the last of April…then quite a surge for the last two weeks! There have been multiple intensive moth captures over the monitoring period. Presumably, this tells us that the moths were well distributed throughout the state during their arrival. This is one piece of important information, as we now track larval development, and follow-up with scouting in high-risk fields! See the accompanying GDD map. Black cutworm development at 300 accumulated heat units (50°F base), after intensive captures, could indicate black cutworm cutting to plants. No surprise that this past week’s heat has accelerated the cutworm’s development, be alert. Happy scouting!
