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.