Here is an insect update from Dr. Will Hudson:

“A number of growers have called asking if they need to reapply their insecticide treatments for budmoth.  The answer is yes, definitely.  There are several (5-6) generations for budmoth, so young trees can be attacked anytime.  The more new growth they put on, the less likely the damage will be severe, but as long as they are flushing and growing actively there is some risk.

I’ve also had scattered reports of sawfly damage.  These are not usually much of a problem for us, but they can occasionally cause enough defoliation, especially in young or small trees, to be a problem.  The insecticides used for caterpillar control will control sawflies as well, except that Intrepid is not effective on sawflies.

With the Desirable drop well underway, it can be hard to sort through all the nuts on the ground looking for the small white spot that indicates shuckworm activity, but the next generation should be emerging and laying eggs in the next couple of weeks.  If you have a heavy crop and light pressure from shuckworms, they may be doing you a favor by thinning the crop but most growers prefer to do that themselves.  Keep an eye out for the signs that shuckworms are active and make the decision to treat or not based on what you see.”

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