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Soybean aphid swarms are of little threat

A late season infestation is turning out to be more of a nuisance than it is an economic threat. Springfield, Illinois is being hit by swarms of soybean aphids.

“For some reason, and it’s probably due to genetics and environmental conditions and not enough predators, which are the lady bugs, this year [soybean aphids] seem to have exploded,” says David Robson, Illinois Extension Horticulture Specialist, “and right now, people are finding them just about everywhere in their yards and gardens.”

AUDIO: David Robson (4 min. MP3)

Speaking from his office in Springfield, Robson tells Brownfield that the aphids blew into town seeking a place to breed and lay eggs, but it’s too late in the season to be alarmed about damage. Even with bunches of them starting families, says Robson, next season’s population is hard to predict.

“Nature has a tendency to produce an awful lot of seeds, or in the case of insects, an awful lot of eggs, and in the majority of the cases, very little becomes of them,” says Robson. “But all it takes is one aphid, and that one aphid can, within 15 or 18 generations per season, all of sudden balloon up into hundreds of thousands of aphids.”

The harshness of nature is generally unforgiving of the rather fragile soybean aphid, according to Robson.

A hard winter will freeze them and a wet spring will drown them before they’re a threat to next season’s soybean crop.