This proposal will evaluate the efficacy of single and double mode of action insecticides for the management of the bean leaf beetle (BLB) in replicate tests conducted in the UKY?s Research and Education Center in Princeton. Insecticides will be sprayed during early and late developmental stages of soybean plants and tallies on the numbers of BLB will be conducted prior to the spray and 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after the application. Yields will be evaluated at harvest. Also, at least four commercial soybean fields (Daviess, Henderson, Lyon and Hickman counties) will be visited biweekly to determine the populations of BLB during VE to V3 developmental stages and later during R3 to R5 stage. In addition, leaf samples will be collected from at least ten commercial fields located in the abovementioned counties and some other counties that mainly represent soybean acreage in KY. Samples will be collected in at least 3 times (V3, R5, and seeds after harvest), all they will be outsourced for virus analysis to determine the infection rates of pod mottle virus. All this information will be summarized and delivered to end users using printed, digital media and in growers and professional meetings.The completion of this proposal will help soybean producer to efficiently use pesticides application to control BLB, evaluate losses due to presence of viral infections, and make best use of their returns.

1. Assess the impact of insecticide sprays during early and late development stages of soybeans in replicate plot tests. 2. Evaluate abundances of BLB in commercial soybean fields and detect the presence of bean pod mottle virus in early and late developmental stages of the plants. 3. Transfer all information generated in this study to end users through the use of digital, printed and extension conferences.

Prepare and disseminate preliminary information on Kentucky Pest News Blog and Present results of field studies at Extension meetings and conferences

Funds were utilized to conduct field and laboratory studies against bean leaf beetles and other pest affecting soybeans. Replicated plots were conducted on the REC experimental fields at Princeton. The insecticides used included in this test were Leverage® or Hero® (double mode-of-action insecticides) and Baytrhoid XL, Warrior II with Zeon technology, and MustangMaxx (pyrethroids). Tallies shown that the numbers of bean leaf beetles were reduced rapidly on tallies conducted 5 and 10 days after the spray. However, the numbers of BLB were smaller compared to 2018 and 2019 and further tallies did not show any differences on BLB numbers on all replicates. Funds were utilized to check efficacy of several insecticides on bean leaf beetles in the laboratory. At the manufacturer recommendation rates MustangMaxx, Hero, and Lorsban caused 90% or higher populations. Whereas Warrior, MustangMaxx, Hero, Leverage and Lorsban deter complete bean leaf beetles feeding of soybean leaves for 48 hours.
In addition, studies were conducted to evaluate the geographical dispersion of the brown marmorated stink bug. In 2020 our monitoring for stink bugs showed that the brown marmorated was present in most soybeans of western Kentucky for first time, previous findings were of hitchhiking specimens; although the brown stink bug is the most prevalent species the BMSB resulted on 13% of all species found in western Kentucky. Among other insects evaluated in these studies were the grape colaspis, the threecornered alfalfa leafhopper and Japanese beetles. All these results will be presented in field days and grower’s meetings.