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Bean leaf betle	4/16/2007 6:25 PM
In the past we have gotten a prediction for bean leaf beetle mortality in March. Are we going to get one this year and when?

Answer

5/4/2007 7:11 AM

Yes, normally the entomologists at Iowa State University will come out with a prediction of the mortality of bean leaf beetles prior to planting. I still haven’t seen it so I assume that it will be out soon since optimum time for soybean planting is next week for most of the areas where bean leaf beetles are a problem.

It is important that you continue to scout your fields no matter how high the mortality has been in your area. My personal opinion is that bean leaf beetles are the most damaging insect that we have in our soybean fields in Iowa. I know that there is a lot of talk about soybean aphid and it costs us a lot of yield in 2003 but over the last 3 years bean leaf beetles have been the most damaging insect in Iowa. In addition to the damage from the beetles we have also seen a lot of bean pod mottle virus that is transmitted by the bean leaf beetles. So, not just do we get a yield loss from the feeding on the plants but also from the virus (and then we have the whole seed quality issue….). 

To my knowledge, I don’t believe that the winter did a lot to the beetles since we had a lot of snow on the ground during the time with subzero temperatures. I may be wrong. If I was a farmer in southern and central Iowa I would scout very carefully in 2007. I always scout in the afternoon since it seems to me that the beetles are much more active then and are easier to find versus early in the morning or late at night.

Palle Pedersen (4/20/2007)

Here is the prediction for 2007. The mortality looks to be very close to the average for Iowa so we will for sure have beetles out there. 

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2007/4-30/blbpop.html

Palle Pedersen (5/4/2007)