The Illinois State Pest Survey is reporting the first trappings of the year of cutworm moths.
Kelly Estes, survey coordinator, tells Brownfield the moths ride weather systems up from the south…
“When we get storm fronts blowing in from the South we tend to have the potential for more or higher moth flights.” She says, “I think we’re kind of lucky that we haven’t seen more flights, but I think what we are seeing is consistent flights.”
Once significant flights are trapped, two consecutive nights trapping nine or more moths, Estes says they can then predict when the actual cutworms could affect crops…
“Insects are temperature dependent, so based on historical temperatures we can predict approximately when enough degree days have accumulated that they are now big enough to cause economic injury,” she says.
