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Corn Rootworm IPM

Regional Working Group

Adult Trapping Network

 

Data Entry Tutorials

Updated for 2023: video tutorial for entering data in Survey123

video tutorial for entering data in Survey123

About the Network

The Corn Rootworm Monitoring Network is comprised of extension educators and field crop specialists in 12 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces, as well as partners from the agricultural industry. Most importantly, the network relies on volunteer cooperators in these areas to monitor sticky traps during the summer when corn rootworm adults are active.

We have 3 goals with this network:

  1. Provide a coordinated approach to monitoring corn rootworm adults in the United States and Canada, and encourage more frequent scouting of cornfields.
  2. Monitor fields chosen by volunteers to identify areas with management challenges and provide recommendations.
  3. Assess population dynamics and shifting ratios of western and northern corn rootworms.

Each participating state or province will supply a limited number of traps to volunteers in their area. The protocol is simple: volunteers will set up a transect of 4 traps in a field of interest, count the number of western and northern corn rootworms (separately) on each sticky trap once per week, and repeat this process for 4 weeks. We ask volunteers to give us some background information on the field and report their data in an online system called Survey123.

The 2022 Regional Corn Rootworm Monitoring Network was made possible with financial support from the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee (ABSTC).

ABSTC logo

Reports

2023 Regional Corn Rootworm Monitoring Network Summary (pdf)

2022 Regional Corn Rootworm Monitoring Network Summary (pdf)

2021 Regional Corn Rootworm Monitoring Network Summary (pdf)

How to Get Involved

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for the Corn Rootworm Monitoring Network, find your state or province’s coordinator on the Contacts page and send them an email.

If you are a field specialist, extension educator, or industry representative that would like to be the contact person for a corn rootworm monitoring program in your area, contact Ashley Dean to be added to our contacts.

How to Set Up a Transect

If you are not interested in volunteering with our network but would still like to deploy sticky traps for monitoring corn rootworm adults in your field(s), you can purchase sticky traps and set them up using these guidelines.

  • For every 10-50 acres (4-20 hectares) of corn or soybean, create 2 transects of 6 sticky traps/transect. Each transect should be at least 330 feet (100 m) apart.
  • Place the first traps at least 165 feet (50 m) from the field edges; place remaining traps at least 165 feet (50 m) apart along the same row.
  • Attach the sticky trap directly to the stalk at ear height. If trapping in soybean, attach the sticky trap to a post approximately 18 inches above the canopy.
  • Check traps weekly and count the number of western and northern corn rootworms. Replace sticky traps weekly and adjust trap height as needed.
  • Trapping should begin around silking (R1) and persist for 6-8 weeks to capture most of the emergence period of adult corn rootworm.

More than one transect is ideal for a more accurate representation of corn rootworm activity in the field, and more traps provide better precision. The description above is recommended for making the best possible management decisions. The transects established in our network are a trimmed-down version of this protocol due to funding limitations and to increase farmer participation. Our cooperators only monitor a single transect of 4 traps for 4 weeks. 

Transect Design (pdf)

Several retailers offer sticky traps for corn rootworm monitoring. Below are links to a few of those websites, but this is not an exhaustive list. We use either the Trécé Pherocon AM No-Bait traps or the Scentry Multigard traps for corn rootworm.

Great Lakes IPM (Both)

Trécé (Trécé Pherocon AM No-Bait traps)

ARBICO Organics (Scentry Multigard traps)