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June 2, 2008 - Tift Co. - First flight of pecan nut casebearer is finished and the damage estimates in nontreated pecan 'Desirable' pecan trees is 6% of nut clusters with damage and 4% of the nuts lost. Looks like the high moth trap catch did not translate into a high level of nut injury. Pecan aphid abundance is low with a few yellow pecan aphid adults and no blackmargined or black pecan aphids. Ladybeetles are very abundant and easy to find.
May 19, 2008 - Tift Co. - Pecan nut casebearer continues to be the most abundant pest in the orchards this week. It is important to check for eggs and feeding damage this week.
May 6, 2008 - Tift Co. - Pecan Nut casebearer continue to emerge and emergence rate is increasing. Number of Moths trapped by Date from first emergence is listed below.
Apr-21 to Apr-24 = 0 moths/15 traps
Apr-24 to Apr-28 = 63 moths/15 traps
Apr-28 to May-1 = 53 moths/15 traps
May-1 to May-5 = 233 moths/15 traps
May-6 to May-11 = 359 moths/15 traps
May-12 to May-18 = 183 moths
April 28, 2008 - Tift Co. _ The first pecan nut case bearer adults were trapped in pheromone traps this morning and this signals the beginning of the adults emerging from the hibernaculae. The insects still need to mate, lay eggs and the eggs need to hatch before the damage occurs. This week pollination should begin and the pecan nut casebearer eggs can be found on the surface of the pecans. Very good pictures of the different life stages and the eggs are on the Oklahoma State website. The link is on my pecan nut casebearer page.
April 24, 2008 - Tift CO. - No pecan nut casebearers have been detected in the pheromone traps. Traps are set in Tift Co. so the situation may be totally different in other areas of the state. Moth abundance varies across the state and moths may be more abundant in one orchard than in another. Degree day accumulation (heat units) is higher in southern areas of the Georgia pecan growing region. See graph below. Last week's cool temperatures may cause later moth emergence, but the trap catch will describe the situations better than the climate data. The best method for measuring moth flight is with the pheromone traps, followed by egg counts and finally nut injury.
April 16, 2008 - Tift Co. - Insect populations low at this time. Some sawfly damage on seedling trees. No phylloxera damage was found. No pecan nut casebearer adults have been trapped in pheromone traps so far. Moth flight may begin next week so the traps need to go out.
April 14, 2008 - Tift Co. - Some varieties have pecans this year and some have none or significantly less than last year. Today, Kiowa had 70% of shoots with nut clusters; Van Deman had 50% of shoots with nut clusters; Ivey had 30% of shoots with nut clusters; Schley had 10% of shoots with nut clusters; Shoshoni had 0% of shoots with nut clusters; and, seedlings range from 0-40% with an average of 28% of the shoots with nut clusters. It was too early to check Stuart, Elliot and Desirable.
April 11,2008 - Tift Co. - No PNC flight this week. Degree day accumulations above a base Temp of 50 F indicate that Heat units are accumulating faster in Moultrie, Intermediate in Tifton and Alapaha and more slowly in Cordele, Plains and Midville. This may indicate that insect activity will start earlier in the southern most areas of the state this year.
April 9, 2008 - Tift Co. - Bud break and leaf expansion is occurring in all varieties now. Pests to look for: Pecan scab - First preventive fungicide sprays began this week. Overwintering pecan leaf scorch mites are emergeing. Pecan nut casebearer pheromone trapping indicates that moth flight has not started yet. Minor pests that may occur include sawflies and phylloxerans. Cover crops of vetch are flowering, white clover is flowering, yellow medic is flowering and red clover is setting seed. Sweep sampling of cover crops indicates that the following ladybeetles are abundant this year: Hippodamia convergens, Coleomegella maculata, Coccinella septempunctata Harmonia axyridis, and Olla v-nigrum.
March 26, 2008 - Scouting for insects and mites begins in the orchards next week and the insect and mite trap catches will be posted each Friday throughout the summer. Please scout your own orchard and use the counts on this website as a reference for comparison. Your counts more than likely will be different from mine.