Insect Pressure Increasing Across Alabama

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Fall armyworm

Insect pest pressure is up across Alabama, according to the latest Alabama Insect Pest Monitoring Update on June 19. The latest numbers show that fall armyworms, southern armyworms, corn earworms and squash vine borers are up compared to this time last year.

In 19 locations across Alabama, here are the moth numbers compared to last year:

Species                             2021 moth numbers      This time last year

Beet armyworm                            200                                     350

Fall armyworm                              234                                     21

Southern armyworm                   173                                     101

Yellowstriped armyworm            16                                      8

Cabbage looper                             54                                      74

Soybean looper                             9                                         18

Corn earworm                               200                                     12

Tobacco budworm                        40                                       12

Lesser cornstalk borer                  707                                     1,500

Squash vine borer                         255                                     34

According to the Alabama Vegetable IPM Facebook page, wet and dry weather conditions contributed to pest movement and development times.