i-' 



INSECTS MAY 



lames W. Apple, center, field entomologist. 

 Illinois Natural History Survey, demon- 

 strates to M. D. Farrar, right, resident en- 

 tomologist, and lames S. Ayars, technical 

 editor, hia new laboratory technique ior 



FOUR important agricultural insect 

 European corn borer, the grasshop- 

 pests, namely, the chinch bug, the 

 per, and the codling moth have in- 

 creased in numbers to a point where 

 they now stand as serious threats to the 

 crop of 1945, according to George C. 

 Decker, entomologist, Illinois Natural 

 History Survey and Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station. 



Chinch Bugs 



Weather conditions during the late 

 summer and early fall were extremely 

 favorable for the development of sec- 

 ond generation chinch bugs and as a 

 result the population has shown a very 

 great increase. 



Hibernation conditions have been al- 

 most ideal, and therefore farmers are 

 faced with the possibility of a chinch 

 bug outbreak equal to that of 1934. 

 If weather conditions during the late 

 spring and early summer are favorable 

 for chinch bug development, heavier 

 infestation and greater crop damage 

 may be expected than was experienced 

 in 1944. 



More than 70 Illi- 

 ■ . nois counties are in- 



) \ eluded in the threat- 



J ^^^ ened area, which ex- 

 f^g^^^^ tends from highway 50 

 ^^^^^1 in the south to U. S. 

 ^^^^V highway 34 in the 

 ^^^^ north. 

 ^ z* In central Illinois it 



is possible, if not in- 

 deed probable that all small grains 

 may be heavily infested, and it is 



determining relative toxicity of DDT in sus- 

 pension as compared with other sprays 

 previously used to control com borer in 

 sweet com. Facts obtained will hove to 

 be checked again in the field (Couritr Photo) 



quite possible that spotted infesta- 

 tions may occur in all except the 

 extreme northwest counties of the 

 state. 



Decker lists the following practices 

 as a means of combating chinch bugs: 



1. Where possible, arrangement of 

 fields of small grain and corn should 

 be such that there will be a minimum 

 of boundary where small grain adjoins 

 corn. 



2. Use every means of insuring thick, 

 rank-growing stands of grain. Chinch 

 bugs tend to congregate in fields hav- 

 ing spotted, thin, or weak stands of 

 small grain. 



3. Keep all infested grain fields un- 

 der observation during May and June. 



4. Build creosote barriers well ahead 

 of migration period. Creosote will un- 

 doubtedly be available at several points 

 in the vicinity of Chicago and East St. 

 Louis. 



For several years the federal govern- 

 ment has cooperated with the farmer 

 by providing dinitro dust and creosote 

 for barriers. At the present time, no 

 federal funds are available for this 

 purpose. Federal participation in 1945 

 depends upon congressional action on 

 an appropriation bill now pending. If 

 necessary funds are made available at 

 an early date, adequate supplies of din- 

 itro dust and creosote will be obtain- 

 able. 



Grasshoppers 



Drouth conditions throughout the 

 summer of 1944 increased the grasshop- 



per population. Decker reports. Heavy 

 and continued rains during 

 the hatching period in 

 May and June might easily 

 reduce the population to a 

 point where it would not 

 be a serious threat in 1945. 

 Recurrence of drouth or 

 semi-drouth conditions 

 could result in a serious 

 grasshopper outbreak in 

 central Illinois and more particularly in 

 the west central counties. 



Altho severe damage from grasshop- 

 pers was not widespread in 1944, 

 damage could be seen at the edges of 

 fields in some parts of the region 

 bounded by Champaign, Quincy, Belle- 

 ville and Lawrenceville. If heavy 

 damage occurs in 1945, it probably will 

 be in this area. Trouble may be ex- 

 perienced in isolated spots outside the 

 area. The most damage is likely to 

 occur in the region bounded by a line 

 from CarroUton to Edwardsville to 

 Greenville to Taylorville to Springfield. 



In all areas where grasshoppers 

 were noted to be more than usually 

 abundant in 1944, farmers should 

 be on the alert and detect large 

 concentrations of newly hatched 

 grasshoppers before they spread 

 over the uninfested fields. 



At this state and under these con- 

 ditions, grasshoppers may be very 'ef- 

 fectively and economically controlled 

 by the proper use of a poison bran 

 bait. Information on use and prepara- 

 tion of bait can be secured from the 

 local farm adviser. 



European Corn Borer 



If we h^ve a warm, 

 early spring with early 

 planting of thousands of 

 acres of corn, and if this is 

 followed by a normal 

 warm, moist growing sea- 

 son in May and June, the 

 corn borer population now 

 present in the area could 

 produce a disastrous corn 

 borer outbreak. Decker says. 



If you farm in the area north of a 

 line from Paris to Champaign to Peoria 

 to Rock Island you may have trouble 

 with European corn borer. There 

 could be some damage immediately 

 south of this line. Northern and north- 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



