The painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui, is mostly orange mottled with black and white markings.
Christian Krupke
Recently there have been numerous reports of swarms of “bee-like” flies around Indiana fields, farmsteads, and rural environments, and wanted to take the opportunity to tell you a bit about this curiosity. Adult hover flies (aka syrphid flies) can sometimes be mistaken for bees or wasps, because they look a lot like them! Some people refer to hover flies as “corn flies” or “sweat bees,” but these insects are actually quite different from bees. Hover flies belong to the Order Diptera, or the true flies. The most noticeable group at this time of year belong to the genus Toxomerus, which feed on pollen. There are many other syrphid flies present throughout the season that are beneficial, as their larvae feed on soft-bodied insects like aphids. Compared to sweat bees, hover flies have black and yellow markings, are able to fly in place yet dart away quickly, have a[Read More…]
Dr. Jocelyn Smith and Art Schaafsma at the Ridgetown campus of the University of Guelph recently reported a new and unexpected development in the resistance to Bt saga – this time it happened all the way out in the Maritime Corn Belt (MCB), in Nova Scotia, a province in Eastern Canada.
Combines are rolling and wagons of grain are heading for dryers and storage. Already, questions have been received about soybean seed observed to be shrunken and/or discolored.
For reasons that are unclear – but likely related to two seasons of increased monitoring and spraying – the western bean cutworm damage is far lower than the past two seasons.
As some areas of Indiana are dry getting drier, there is more concern about the possibility about spider mites being a culprit for yellowing foliage.
Populations of potato leafhopper continue to plague alfalfa fields throughout the state. Undoubtedly, the extended warm temperatures have contributed to this population explosion.
The western bean cutworm (WBC) trapping season continues, and after a slow start, moth flights have surged in many northern Indiana county traps this past week.
Japanese beetle are emerging and can be seen throughout the state on corn and soybean plants.
Pheromone trapping began for western bean cutworm moths this week. Within just one day several cooperators were reporting catches. This is just the beginning of an extended moth emergence and flight, with their peak activity expected 2-3 weeks from now.
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