Bill Cissel, Extension Agent – Integrated Pest Management; bcissel@udel.edu
Congratulations Chris Leon for correctly identifying the damage in the photo as stink bug damage and for being selected to be entered into the end of season raffle for $100 not once but five times. Everyone else who guessed correctly will also have their name entered into the raffle. Click on the Guess the Pest logo to participate in this week’s Guess the Pest challenge!
Guess the Pest Week #15 Answer: Stink Bug
The damage on the corn stalk is stink bug feeding injury. Stink bugs will use their piercing-sucking mouthparts to probe into the stalk of the plant, removing plant fluids. If the stink bug hits the ear at this stage, the ear will often fail to develop kernels at the feeding site. This causes the ear to develop into the classic “C”-shaped or boomerang-shaped ear. This is why the greatest damage and yield loss potential due to stink bug feeding is prior to pollination. This is also why waiting until after tasseling (pollination), to control a stink bug infestation in field corn is too late. Here is a link to last week’s article discussing stink bug management in field corn: http://extension.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/?p=12194