Cotton: bollworms gearing up in Louisiana

As we closed out our weekend issue of AgUpdates Saturday morning, we received the following advisory from Ralph Bagwell, Louisiana Extension Cotton Entomologist:

On Thursday and Friday of this past week, I was flushing fresh bollworm moths in cotton. Moths were observed in both the Red River Valley and in NE Louisiana. The number of moths observed was not high, but this was more than I have seen in cotton in two or three years.

All of the moths I caught were females and appeared newly emerged. Female adults usually emerge about 48 to 72 hours before males. Egg laying will start about 2 days after the males emerge. Thus, I anticipate seeing bollworm eggs in fields by Tuesday (July 4th) or Wednesday (July 5th).

Pyrethroids are the insecticide of choice for bollworm control. Ammo, however, may not be a very good option in some areas because of its potential for flaring mites.

Mites are being observed in many areas of the state. Southeastern Franklin parish appears to have the most significant infestation of mites. Many fields in this area either have been treated or are in need of treatment for mites.