Horse Gestation

Fall Armyworm Moth Captures Soar in Western Kentucky; Corn Earworms Also Rise

September 2nd, 2010 | Author: Contributors

While it is a pest of cattle and horse pastures, the fall armyworm should not affect horses. It should not be confused with the eastern tent caterpillar that causes mare reproductive loss syndrome. Fall armyworms appear in Kentucky only in late summer and fall. Eastern tent caterpillars appear in the spring. A third caterpillar species, the fall webworm, might cause additional confusion. It produces silken webs in trees that some people might mistake for those of the eastern tent caterpillar.

Released September 1, 2010

PRINCETON, Ky. -- The largest-ever recorded capture of fall armyworm moths occurred during the week ending on Aug. 27 in the Integrated Pest Management traps at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center in Princeton. Grain crops and alfalfa/grass forage producers should be on alert for the first appearance of caterpillars, which should occur in the next week or two, said Doug Johnson, extension entomologist with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

Trap counts on Aug. 27 were 1,038 moths. This is a phenomenal increase from 52 moth captures the week before. In the 15 years the IPM traps have been collected in Princeton, the second-highest number of moth counts came in at 326 for the week of Oct. 5, 2007, which was an outbreak year.

"It is always possible that nothing unusual will happen, but fall armyworm damage to forage fields has already occurred in at least four Western Kentucky counties this season," he said.

--continued on University of Kentucky Extension news

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