All summer, we have seen very little evidence of the fall armyworm (FAW) activity that was similar to the outbreak that we experienced in August through October of 2021. This year, our southern colleagues were fairly silent about FAW activities until late July and early August, when folks in Arkansas and North Carolina began to report of damage being observed in managed turf. At that time, we were still not seeing reports of any major numbers of adults being trapped in Ohio pheromone traps. Suddenly, in the first week of August, one of our agronomic crop entomologists reported getting significant numbers of adults in their pheromone traps. This last week another entomologist in the Lima, OH area also reported getting 100 or more adults in his pheromone traps. These reports trigger us to pay more attention to what could potentially happen in our managed turf. And, indeed, this week we began to get pictures from turf managers of FAW egg masses on structures overhanging turf. Therefore, we want to warn you of the potential for damage by FAW yet this season.
Read the full article here.