David Owens, Extension Entomologist, owensd@udel.edu
Congratulations to Chris Cawley and Buzz Lowe for correctly identifying the corn photos as Pythium and Japanese Beetle!
Japanese beetle feeding on corn.
For a brief discussion of Japanese beetle, see the field corn section in this weeks’ agronomic insect scouting report.
Pythium root rot on field corn.
Regarding Pythium, this from Dr. Alyssa Koehler:
“Symptoms of Pythium root rot include stunted, slower growing plants, to severely infected, dead plants. Although we have not had excessive rainfall, Pythium has been fairly prevalent across the region this season. Emerging seedlings are at the highest risk for severe symptoms and damping off. As root systems continue to develop, plants can usually survive mild to moderate Pythium infections.”