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True Armyworms Invading Sweet Corn!

Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture

June 7, 2018

This article was published in the June 7th 2018, ENYCHP Vegetable News.  Click here to view the full newsletter.

The last two weeks have had us finding some True Armyworm adult moths in our traps.  These moths move up from southern overwintering sites on storm fronts.  If you recall, we've had some issues with these buggers in the past and sweet corn isn't their only host as we've seen them attack several vegetable crops including sweet corn, brassicas, tomatoes, peppers and greens.   Not only is their damage a problem, but on things like lettuce, the droppings can affect marketability of the crop.  

Armyworms, whether Fall or True, are very eager feeders and can do a lot of damage in a short time.  Their feeding damage tends to appear ragged, with large holes eaten in the leaves and they leave lots and lots of sawdust looking frass (insect terminology for fecal matter).  They tend to feed on the top sides of crops during the night and on the undersides or deeper into the plant during the day.   

The adults are fairly large moths which are primarily nocturnal and have the ability to lay up to 2,000 eggs in their two week life.  The eggs will hatch in 7 to 14 days and the larvae begin feeding immediately, going through seven stages of development over several weeks.  The worms tend to be greenish brown (with some variations) with a pale white stripe on its back and an orange stripe on each side of the body.  One other distinguishable feature is a dark brown to black triangle located on the outside of each of the four pairs of prologs found towards the hind end of the body.   

Thresholds for when to treat corn have been established and should be treated when 25>#/b### of the plants are showing damage (Source: Integrated Pest Management Program, Missouri University).  For sweet corn and leafy greens, best control is achieved when the larvae are small (1st and 2nd instar) and applied usually later in the evening when the larvae tend to be more active and feeding on the upper surfaces of the plants.    

There are a number of insecticides labeled for leafy greens including these organic products:  Pyganic (pyrethrin), Dipel (Bacillus thuringinensis, subsp. Kurstaki), Xentari ((Bacillus thuringiensis, var. aizawai), Aza-Direct (azadirachtin), Azera (pre-mix of azadirachtin and a pyrethroid) and Entrust (check the label for the labeled rates as formulations vary for these products).   Again, these products are going to work best when applied to small larvae but if they get ahead of you, tank mixing a pyrethroid (Aza-Direct, Pyganic etc.) with a Bt (Dipel, Xentari etc) will improve performance.  Repeat applications may also be necessary depending on how long the egg laying period and development conditions are.  

Conventional insecticides labeled for armyworm control on sweet corn and leafy greens including Warrior II, Baythroid (both are recommended for 1st and 2nd instars), Coragen and Lannate.  Ensure that you get thorough coverage, of the canopy with any of these products including the whorl in the case of sweet corn.  Late evening applications also keep insecticides wet longer ensuring larval contact and ingestion of the insecticides.  Other insecticides labeled for sweet corn include Asana XL (1st and 2nd instars), Mustang Max, Radiant SC and Blackhawk.  Please check labels for rates.

army 1Note the ragged feeding and dark colored frass. (Photo: Teresa Rusinek)



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Upcoming Events

Blueberry Pruning Workshop

Event Offers DEC Credits

March 26, 2025
Altona, NY

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

10 am - noon

 Irona Berry Haven

1897 Alder Bend Rd, Altona, NY 12910

$10 per farm

1 DEC credit requested in categories 1A, 10, and 22

Join us at Jeffrey Guerin's berry farm for a morning of pruning demonstrations, pest and disease identification, and more. Bring your own pruners so that you can learn by doing! Dress warmly for our workshop, which will be held outdoors. In the case of severe weather on the 26th, the workshop will be held at the same time on the 27th. Light refreshments will be provided.


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Champlain Valley Apple Pest Management Refresher

Event Offers DEC Credits

March 27, 2025
Chazy, NY

Join us in Chazy on March 27th for some pest management updates, and to receive some additional pesticide recertification credits for your farm's certified applicators! We will be offering 2.25 DEC recertification credits in categories 22, 10, and 1A. Light refreshments will be provided, and lunch following the meeting (sponsored by Valent) is optional.

$5 per employee

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Blind Industry White Wine Tasting Workshop

April 1, 2025 : Blind Industry White Wine Tasting Workshop
Germantown, NY

This event is a blind wine tasting for ENY grape industry members to get feedback from fellow growers and Cornell Enologists on unfinished white wines (hybrid, vinifera, etc.)

We respectfully request that only professional winemakers or commercial vineyard owners attend, as space is limited. Limit two wines per winery/vineyard.

Pre-registration is required.  For questions, please contact Jeremy Schuster at jds544@cornell.edu

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Announcements

2025 CCE ENYCHP Fruit and Vegetable Conference

Join us for the Annual Eastern NY Fruit and Vegetable Conference February 19th and 20th, 2025 at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center, 660 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12211

We are back with two full days of informative sessions and over 10 DEC Pesticide Recertification Credits Available!  Sessions this year include Tree Fruit, Vegetables, Small Fruit, Grapes, Bedding Plants and other related topics and visit with more than 50 vendors! 

For the full program, CLICK HERE or to register, CLICK HERE!

Program Overview & DEC Pesticide Recertification Credits:
Wednesday, February 19, 2025:
  • Tree Fruit Session 1, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm 2.0 Credits in Categories 10, 1a and 22
  • Tree Fruit Session 2, 1:15 pm - 4:00 pm 1.75 Credits in Categories 10, 1a and 22
  • Small Fruit Session,  9:00 am - 12:00 pm - 2.0 Credits in Categories 10, 1a and 22
  • Grape Session, 8:50 am - 11:45 am - 1.0 Credits in Categories 10, 1a and 22
  • H2A, 1:15 pm - 3:50 pm

Thursday, February 20, 2025
  • Tree Fruit Session 3, 8:20 am - 12:00 pm - 0.5 Credits in Categories 10, 1a and 22
  • Bedding and Vegetable Transplants, 9:00 am - 11:30 am - 1.50 Credits in 10, 1a,24 and 23
  • Vegetable Session, 1:15pm - 3:50pm - 1.5 Credits in Categories 10, 1a, 21, 23 and 0.25 Core
  • Marketing Session, 8:50 am - 12:00 pm
  • Funding Opportunities, 1:15 pm - 3:30 pm
Hope to see you there!



Resources from CCE ENYCHP!


This website (https://enych.cce.cornell.edu/) contains our calendar of upcoming programs and registration links. For updated programmatic information, technical resources and links to newsletters please see our program blog site: https://blogs.cornell.edu/enychp/.
We also maintain the following online resources that you can view directly from these links:

• CCE ENYCH YouTube (program videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSk_E-ZKqSClcas49Cnvxkw

• CCE ENYCH Facebook (program social media): https://www.facebook.com/CCEENYCHP/

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