Pasture Mealybug Update – August 23, 2025

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Once we know the species, we should get a clearer picture on the biology of the mealybug which may lead to better understanding of how to manage the pest. I hope to hear from the identifier next week. In Australia, there are mealybugs that effect their pastures. The Australian pasture mealybug (Heliococcus summervillei) is responsible for what they call “pasture dieback.” The symptoms they describe are similar to what we are experiencing. While our mealybug may or may not be the same species, we can learn from their… Read More →

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 →