Insect Update from Danny Kline, June 24

June 24, 2010 in Extension

Last Friday, we recovered our first northern masked chafers from our black light trap. Last night, we collected 33 chafers from the trap. The heat and humidity is allowing them to quickly develop and populations will soon peak. Japanese beetles, and oriental beetles were also found in our pheromone traps early this week. It’s now time to put out preventive grub treatments. Putting down Acelepryn, Mach II, or one of the nicotinoid insecticides (Merit or Meridian) prior to egg hatch is the key to effective control, and chafers will soon be laying eggs.

We have also found billbug larvae. Heavy damage has been noted in several locations in central PA. We are also starting to hear reports of cutworm damage.