Recent Posts

  • The UGA Peanut Entomology Program is monitoring thrips flight activity again in 2015. Four thrips traps were placed in each of six south Georgia counties on 13 March. Traps are collected and replaced every Friday, and catch data will be posted to this blog weekly. Traps are located in Brooks, Colquitt, Decatur, Mitchell, Tift, and…

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  • The University of Georgia Peanut Entomology Program is conducting an online survey of peanut producers in GA. A postcard was recently mailed to growers informing them of the survey and encouraging participation. We would appreciate it if agents would encourage growers in their counties to complete the survey. It should take 10-20 minutes to answer…

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  • The weather is warming up, and soon peanut seed will be going into the ground. After two seasons of relatively heavy and late thrips pressure in Georgia, it is understandable that growers are asking questions about thrips management options for 2015. The most common questions I have gotten recently involve the use of imidacloprid (Admire…

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  • We made it through the first couple weeks of the 2014 peanut harvest without hearing too much about burrower bugs, and I thought hopefully our prediction of heavier burrower bug damage this year was going to be wrong. Over the last two weeks, however, the reports of seg 2 peanuts and burrower bug damage have…

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  • Spider Mites

    As we approach harvest time of the 2014 Georgia peanut crop, we still need to be mindful of two spotted spider mites. This pest is present in many areas around the state and under hot, dry conditions populations can explode quickly. Peanuts with two or more weeks to go before digging are still at risk…

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  • Several folks have recently asked me about the compatibility of Comite II miticide and commonly used fungicides in peanut. I sprayed Comite II alone and in combination with several fungicides last Friday afternoon. The products were sprayed at a higher than labeled rate and in the hottest part of a very hot day to try…

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  • Last week Scott Carlson in Worth County and Eddie Beasley in Berrien County each put a light trap in non-irrigated peanut fields. Burrower bugs were collected at both locations on the first night the traps ran. Only limited research has been done on burrower bug in Georgia. It is not known if granular chlorpyrifos (i.e.…

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  • Peanut Burrower Bug

    I have received a couple reports of burrower bugs in peanuts in the last two weeks. Eddie Beasley in Berrien County brought some specimens to the lab last week that were tentatively identified as the peanut burrower bug, Pangaeus bilineatus. We have no way to know how widespread infestations are or if we will see…

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  • Quick Update

    We are approaching mid-August, and the insects and mites are staying with us. The two that concern me most continue to be lesser cornstalk borer (LCB) and two spotted spider mite. I have seen several spots in recent days where LCB populations are high enough to kill peanut plants. The pattern has been the same…

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  • Over the last several weeks there have been a lot of discussions in Georgia about using foliar insecticide applications to target lesser cornstalk borer (LCB). The major constraint to this approach is less about the efficacy of the insecticides than it is about our inability to get products to the pest. LCB larvae spend most…

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