Management of Lepidoptera on Processing Sweet Corn in Western New York

J. Econ.Entomol. 79: 1658-1661 (1986) ABSTRACT Processingsweet corn harvested from commercial fields in western New York was graded for insect injury and presence of larvae of European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalts (Hubner); fall armyworm, Spodoptera !rugiperda (]. E. Smith); and corn earworm, Heliothts zea (Boddie), during 1982 and 1983. In both years, boring injury caused by O. nubilalts was lower and remained relatively constant through the season relative to the dramatic increase in tip injury caused by S. frugiperda and H. zea as the season progressed. In 1982, the seasonal average of tip and boring injury was 6.43 and 1.11%, respectively, and in 1983,6.94 and 1.51%, respectively. Tip injury reflected temporal trends in fall armyworm and corn earworm populations in harvested ears in both years. Boring injury only reflected the temporal trend of European corn borer in 1983. Testing of a management program, which compared scheduled applications in one section of the field against a sequential sampling program for European corn borer in another section of the same field was conducted in 11 commercial fields in 1984. For each processor involved, there was no significant difference in number of ears that were infested or culled in each section; however, scouted sections of fields required 25 and 33% fewer applications. Based on an analysis of insecticide savings and scouting costs,adoption of this management program should prove cost effective to the processing industry.