David Owens, Extension Entomologist, owensd@udel.edu
Congratulations to Leah Fronk and Michael Crossley for correctly identifying the cause of last week’s sweet corn tassel damage as European corn borer. Although we have only captured 1 corn borer this year from 12 black lights and 6 pheromone trap locations, they are still around, and under the right conditions can still show up and be a potentially damaging vegetable pest. In the field the photo was taken, about 1% of tassels were infested, but the ears were not damaged by ECB.
Also, congratulate Dr. Crossley on beginning work as our new agricultural research entomologist in Newark! He is excited to be building an applied research program to help address insect pest issues that you face here on Delmarva. You can reach him at crossley@udel.edu.
European Corn Borer