Evaluation of Midge Insecticide Applications on Lepidopteran Pests of Grain Sorghum, 2013

On 31 Jul 2013, a foliar insecticide efficacy trial was conducted on the Black Belt Experiment Station in Brooksville, MS. Six insecticides were evaluated against an untreated check (UTC) for control of corn earworm (CEW) and sorghum webworm (SWW). Plot size was four rows by 40 ft long on 38 in centers. Treatments were initiated when sorghum plants were at 25% bloom, and were arranged as a randomized complete block design with four replications. Insecticides were applied with a tractor mounted sprayer calibrated to deliver 10 gpa at 60 psi through TX-6 Hollow Cone nozzles (two per row). The treatments were applied on 31 Jul and sampled 7 days after treatment (7 DAT). Each plot was sampled by randomly selecting 20 plants and shaking sorghum heads into a sweep net. Data were analyzed with ANOVA and means were separated using Fisher’s Protected LSD (P ≤ 0.05).

At 7 DAT, all treatments significantly reduced CEW numbers compare to the UTC (Table 1). At 7 DAT, only Besiege, and Prevathon significantly reduced SWW numbers below that in the UTC (Table 1).¹

Footnotes