Leafhoppers feed on corn crops with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. During feeding, they produce a honeydew that favors the growth of black sooty mold. The corn leafhopper can also transmit four pathogens associated with corn stunt disease.
The guide gives scouting and management techniques. As with other pests, Valmorbida recommends scouting corn fields throughout the growing season. Corn leafhoppers move rapidly within and among cornfields and fly or jump away when disturbed.
Visual scouting may not be effective when insect numbers are low. Valmorbida suggests assessing presence by using a sweep net or a battery-powered vacuum with a pantyhose stocking over the funnel.
Once found, producers should use multiple practices to reduce the population and sources of disease inoculum, says Valmorbida.
Valmorbida gives four tips to reduce the risks of infestation:
• Plant early.
• Consider insecticidal seed treatments that can protect up to V3 growth stage.
• Remove volunteer plants that may serve as a green bridge, or alternative host, for the corn leafhopper and as a reservoir for the corn stunt pathogens.
• Consider foliar insecticides if corn leafhoppers are present before the V8 growth stage.
Download the publication at https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g7109.
Source : missouri.edu