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Japanese beetle presence decreasing, but watch for stink bugs

An Illinois field crop entomologist says overall insect pressure has been minimal so far, but there are some later season pests to watch out for.

Nick Seiter with the University of Illinois tells Brownfield Japanese beetle populations have decreased since last year.

“In some cases, we might have had some get flooded out. In other cases, we might just be on the downward cycle of their population curve. Japanese Beetles, especially, are notorious for going in waves. You can have several years of very high pressure followed by some reduced pressure afterward.”

But, he tells Brownfield stink bugs could be a bigger issue for soybean growers later in the season.

“Just based on increasing population densities over the last two years and the late planting that we had which gives the insects more time to have more generations and build up to higher numbers.”

Seiter says spider mites could also be a problem in areas experiencing dry conditions during flowering.

He recommends scouting often and only applying insecticides if a concerning threshold of the insect is present.