DEVELOPING AN IPM PROGRAM FOR WESTERN BEAN CUTWORM, A NEW CORN AND DRY BEAN PEST IN THE NORTHEAST REGION

This two-year research project involves a collaboration of researchers from three state universities to focus on western bean cutworm (WBC), a critical emerging invasive insect pest that poses a significant threat to corn and dry bean production in the northeast. Our proposed work will track the current geographic extent of WBC activity, assess the risk western bean cutworm poses to growers in Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont, integrate existing northeast and Great Lakes regional trap capture and larval infestations data into the PestWatch system to understand the spread of WBC and the regional threat to production in the Northeast, and develop a new pest management tool that has strong potential to help control this insect pest including using regional data to evaluate the relevance for the Northeast of the Midwestern degree day model for predicting various activity periods.