Author Archives: Stephen Biles

Mealybug Control in Pastures

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A mealybug has become a problem in many pastures and hayfields of South Texas. On July 28, I sprayed an insecticide control test near near Nursery, TX with Victoria County Extension Agent, Kara Matheney. Yesterday, we visited the test to assess the control obtained in the treatments. We applied 5 insecticide treatments and left an untreated treatment. The test had four replications. Control was measured in two ways. First, we used a phone app to determine if there was differences in grass production. The second method to measure… Read More →

Mealybugs in Pastures and Hayfields

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Many pastures and hayfields are experiencing an unusual insect problem. These fields have areas of various size that are red to brown and look like some or all of the grass is dead or dying. On July 22, we visited several Bermudagrass hayfields in Victoria County responding to grower calls. The worst of these fields was entirely brown and desiccated. We have since, visited many more pastures and hayfields with a wide range of severity. A mealybug has been found from the Rio Grande Valley to north of… Read More →

Stink Bugs in Soybeans 7-1-25

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Stink Bug numbers really went up in the past week with some fields having over 100 bugs per 100 sweeps. Most of the stink bugs we are finding in soybeans are red banded stink bugs and this is a worst case since this bug is much more damaging than the other stink bugs. The economic threshold for most stink bugs is 36 per 100 sweeps, but for the red banded stink bug, the published threshold is 16 per 100 sweeps and I would probably treat around 12 per… Read More →

Bollworms in Cotton 6-30-25

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Today we are finding cotton bollworms in some cotton fields of Calhoun County.  The cotton fields with the worms are planted with 2-gene Bt cotton varieties. We have a Bt overspray test containing 4 Bt varieties and a non-Bt variety. We plan to count worms and worm feeding damage in this test tomorrow and will update this post when the data is analyzed. When scouting cotton for worms it is important to check plant terminals, squares, blooms and bolls for worm feeding. The published Economic Threshold for worms… Read More →

Corn Leafhopper Update 6/18/25

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We have found a few corn leafhoppers in Victoria corn fields.  These have been much more difficult to find than last year. I suggest you listen to the update below to learn how Dr Kerns is finding them in corn fields in the Brazos valley. Most of the corn in the mid-coast is in dent stage and well past the damage window of the corn stunt disease transmitted by the insect. A Corn Leafhoppers update from Dr David Kerns is available here: https://soundcloud.com/user-766365640-259391064/corn-leafhopper-update-6-18?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing You can get text message… Read More →