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Armyworm moths already plentiful

An entomologist says she’s paying close attention to the number of true armyworm moths flying north this spring.

Krista Hamilton with Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection tells Brownfield they started placing moth traps in March. “Some of our trap sites are catching 250-550 true armyworm moths per week. It doesn’t necessarily indicate problems, but it certainly raises some red flags that we need to be monitoring true armyworms this season.”

Hamilton says crops usually get heavier damage from the second generation of true armyworms. What we’re seeing right now doesn’t mean huge problems for June. I think what we’re talking about is that it’s more or less laying the foundation for issues that we could see in July.”

Hamilton says large moth flights do not always mean large outbreaks of armyworms. 

She says last year was an outbreak year with extreme pest populations in southern and western Wisconsin, but armyworms don’t overwinter well, so monitoring moth flights every spring is important.

AUDIO: DATCP Entomologist Krista Hamilton discusses early trapping of armyworm moths with Brownfield’s Larry Lee