The two insects to be looking for in peanut fields in May are thrips and tobacco budworm. Adult
thrips were present on seedling peanuts in UGA research plots within 24 hours of emergence
from the soil on 2 May. Plots with no insecticide treatment had high numbers of adult thrips on
7 May (13 days after planting). While thrips injury was not readily apparent at 13 days after
planting, it will become obvious over the next two weeks as eggs hatch and immature thrips
begin to feed.
It is good practice to scout fields for thrips about 10-14 DAP. Thrips spread Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) and peanuts planted before May 10th are at an increased risk of thrip damage and catching TSWV. Acephate (Orthene) will be the choice of most growers if a foliar application is needed. Foliar insecticides will NOT reduce the risk of TSWV. Phorate (Thimet) applied in-furrow is the only insecticide known to reduce the incidence of TSWV in peanut.
Early season tobacco budworm infestations have been relatively rare the last five years, but
there is a history of this pest causing significant damage to seedling peanut in Georgia. It does
not take long for budworm caterpillars to defoliate plants that are only a few inches tall.
Scouting is the only way to know what is happening in the field.
On a regulatory note: There continue to be questions regarding chlorpyrifos (e.g. Lorsban). The
US 9th Circuit Court ruled in April 2019 that the US EPA had 90 days to issue “a full and fair
decision on LULAC’s objections to an EPA order denying a 2007 petition to cancel all tolerances
for the pesticide chlorpyrifos…” That means we should have a better idea of the future of
chlorpyrifos in the middle of July. We will keep you posted…
– Dr. Mark Abney, UGA Peanut Entomologist