Fall armyworm (FAW) about to cycle through on some non-Bt corn of mine. Where will they go next? Most corn and cotton has Bt protection from FAW, so not a big risk, but this migratory pest will be laying eggs elsewhere in July.

Japanese beetles feeding on corn and cotton. Interesting but not economically important.

Stink bugs setting up shop in corn.

Aphids and spider mites starting to show up quickly.

Time point #1 for simulated insect defoliation in soybeans with PhD student Adam Whitfield. The crew loves "punching" leaflets, while Adam and I handle the other treatments, like the 100% shown. We will have good data after 3 years to calculate EILs and defoliation thresholds.

It's August, so "Stink Bug Month" has started. I'm seeing adults mating, egg masses hatching, nymphs, and boll injury. Quick tip - sort your bolls to be opened by those with and without external lesions, and open those with external lesions first - can speed up field assessment.

Some low-level bollworm injury in 2-gene Bt cotton this week. Seeing about 1 to 2% but not yet at 5% threshold mark. No bollworm damage in 3-gene Bt cotton this week.

Found a lot of soybean loopers, podworms, and beet armyworms in soybeans this morning.

Easily observed mating green stink bugs and tobacco budworm (TBW) moths this morning in cotton. This was a patch of non-Bt cotton of mine, so TBW eggs and hatching larvae have a chance here. Any TBW in Bt cotton are doomed. Capture of TBW moths in traps increased this past week.

In honor of "stink bug" month (August) and break dancing at the Olympics, we (the bug crew) proudly present stink bug break dancing (aka a southern green stink bug trying to get back on its feet). No stink bugs were harmed in making this video (it was released). 😅

Larva of the silverspotted skipper is a favorite of the "Bug Crew" every year. We never see large numbers of this defoliator, so the rare specimen gets a photoshoot.

Seeing a lot of stink bugs in corn. Is it going to be a big stink bug year in cotton and soybeans?

Year 3 of a portion of graduate student Adam Whitfield's PhD research simulating defoliation injury to soybeans and refining treatment thresholds. No injury versus 100% defoliation at late vegetative stage. Yield loss on this early stage extreme defoliation?

It's hot today in SC! Not a parking lot and parked temperature. That was like 115 degrees.

Simulated insect defoliation at 100% in soybeans at R2. Will it recover or see yield loss?