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Excessive moisture drowns corn root worms

There may be a silver lining in the clouds that brought excessive rain to the Corn Belt.  The standing water is drowning corn rootworms.  Purdue entomology professor Christian Krupke says rain came in early June when rootworm eggs hatch and larvae are susceptible to drowning.

“So in all likelihood, the corn that does pull out of this will have an easier time of it as far as re-growing roots and getting back in a good growing situation,” said Krupke.

It’s a matter of timing, said Krupke, during an interview with Brownfield Ag News.  When they hatch, larvae need to find a corn root to feed on within 24 hours.

“There are two things that happen when the soil is saturated,” said Krupke.  “Number one: [the corn root worm] can’t smell the corn root, that’s how they find them, and number two: they just drown.  They need to breath air and when they’re vulnerable they can drown quite quickly.”

In the areas that received heavy rain around the time of the hatch, Krupke calls it “an apocalypse for root worms.”

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