December 2020 - 11

Place the pheromone traps at high
traffic entry points into the field and
at the field borders closest to the
possible sources of weevils.
" We recommend putting the traps
out early, " Long said. " You want to
know where the weevils are coming
from. They're so small, they're likely
to be assisted by the wind and the
amount and direction of wind has a
big effect. "
" The traps are essentially an early
ELIZABETH LONG
in the field where the weevils start.
The areas most devoid of any fruit
are right near the driveways where
vehicles entered to drive bins out
into the field. "
Pepper weevil adults will feed
on any solanaceae plants but only
reproduce on peppers or nightshade
and peppers are always preferred.
" As they fly around, they will look
for peppers, " Long said. " You don't
ever want to plant tomatoes, peppers
and eggplants together. " Limiting the
amount of solanaceae crops planted
near processors can help, too.
Pepper weevil has alternative hosts
such as black nightshade, eastern
black nightshade and horsenettle so
good weed control is important, too.
Adult females lay 200 to 300 eggs
each generation in flowers or young
fruit causing the flowers and fruit
to abort. Weevil larvae continue to
develop in aborted fruit and emerge
as adults.
The pepper weevil life cycle
averages 21 to 30 days. That means
if weevils enter a field in early May
there's the potential to have up to
six generations in the remaining 20
weeks of the growing season.
The females typically are found in
the top one-third of the plant. " The
females prefer the youngest part of
the plant and that's where the buds
emerge, " Long said.
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LASALLE
54 day, high yielding, dark,
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warning system, " Ingerson-Mahar
said. " Detect the population before it
gets established. Once it's established,
it's an uphill battle for the rest of the
season. "
Fruit on the ground means it's too
late to protect the crop. There may
also be infested fruit on the plants
with no obvious signs of damage.
Once an infestation has been
detected, weekly insecticide
applications while rotating
chemistries is the strategy and adults
are the target. " This is the stage
where they can be controlled with
insecticides, " Long said. " Typically, if
you see a single adult, you spray, and
you go in hard. "
" The threshold is one adult, "
Ingerson-Mahar agreed. Pepper
weevil cannot be effectively
controlled once infestations have
established and the larvae are inside
the peppers.
Aborted fruit on the ground should
be removed but that's nearly an
impossible task. " That is a weak link
in all of this - removing aborted fruit
from the fields, " Ingerson-Mahar
said. Detecting and controlling adults
before the infestation gets this severe
is the best strategy.
Pepper weevils are pre-adapted
to take advantage of the current
marketing system and the way fresh
pepper produce is transported.
" In terms of management, pepper
weevil should be managed like a
plant disease rather than an insect
pest that can be controlled with a
couple of insecticide applications, "
Ingerson-Mahar said. VGN
" Once it's established,
it's an uphill battle for
the rest of the season. "
DANTE
− Elizabeth Long,
Purdue University
" You're losing a lot of yield even
with a minor infestation, " IngersonMahar
said. " One pepper aborted per
10 feet of row and you're losing about
4,000 peppers per acre. "
The control strategy developed in
New Jersey is to spray an insecticide
in high risk fields at first flower to
eliminate any weevil adults already
present and then deploy pheromone
traps. Lower risk fields may not need
the initial insecticide application.
Contact Your Area
Territory Manager:
Tim Clark
WI, MN, IA, NE, IL
608-609-5884
Tom Jacobs
MI, OH, IN
616-307-4322
Tom Dauria
NJ, VA, PA
908-489-4896
Dominic Levari
New Jersey
856-777-0817
Randy DeMay
New York
585-747-3379
Blake Myers
NY, PA, MA, CT
585-303-3252
Karen Grybko
ME, VT NH, RI, MA
603-654-5362
Tom Pagels
NJ, MD, DE, PA
609-247-7140
- Quality Seed Since 1881 -
800-962-4999 │www.stokeseeds.com │ 13031 Reflections Dr Holland MI 49424
VGN | DECEMBER 2020 | 11
John Hoffman
OH, IN, IL, MO
419-388-6731
James Young
MI, OH, IN
616-250-0329
Bryan Hannigan
NJ, DE, MD
609-440-3685
Early maturing large Jalapeño,
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HERMES
90 days. Highly productive dark
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Resistance to PM.
http://www.stokeseeds.com
December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2020
