Maggots and armyworms

It is that time of year when I hear about maggots and armyworms in field crops. At least that means people are out there looking for insects! I don't always get great photos of the insect activity or injury, but this week is the exception. Keep 'em coming, everyone!

Brian Lang, ISU Field Agronomist in northeast Iowa, has already found a soybean aphid (actually he almost always finds the first ones every year) AND he found a few prevent plant fields with seed corn maggot in soybean. He seemed to notice more plant feeding in fields that were planted to oats last year compared to radish. He also noted it was a field with mostly naked soybean seed (no insecticidal seed treatment).

Seedcorn maggot and pupae at the base of an emerging soybean plant. Photos by Brian Lang, ISU. 

Tom Hillyer, a crop consultant in Iowa, always sends me interesting photos. He manages to stump me on a regular basis with insect identification. But his recent photos included some developed armyworms feeding on corn. He also found a few bean leaf beetle on soybean despite my earlier prediction for high mortality this year. 

Yellowstriped armyworm. Photo by Tom Hillyer.

Armyworm. Photo by Tom Hillyer.

Bean leaf beetle. Photo by Tom Hillyer.