May, 2018 Peanut Pointers
May, 2018 Peanut Pointers
Entomology
Mark Abney
As of 4 May relatively few peanuts are out of the ground, and I have received no reports of
thrips injury. Numbers on our thrips traps indicated that tobacco thrips dispersal began
around mid-April. Weekly captures remained constant for two weeks and then dropped the
first week of May. A number of factors can influence the intensity of thrips movement from
week to week, and it is unclear if this drop represents the end of the 2018 spring thrips flight.
Nevertheless we are approaching 10 May. Peanuts planted after 10 May are typically less
severely affected by thrips and tomato spotted wilt virus. Growers should remember to scout
seedling peanuts weekly for thrips and foliage feeding caterpillars. Early season tobacco
budworm infestations, while scattered, can severely defoliate young plants if the insects are
not detected in a timely manner.