2023
Survey & Monitoring of the Mexican Bean Beetle Population in Soybeans
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Contributor/Checkoff:
New Jersey Soybean Board
Category:
Sustainable Production
Keywords:
Biotic stressCrop protectionField management Pest
Parent Project:
This is the first year of this project.
Lead Principal Investigator:
Wayne Hudson, New Jersey Department of Agriculture
Co-Principal Investigators:
Project Code:
Contributing Organization (Checkoff):
New Jersey Soybean Board
$6,000
Institution Funded:
New Jersey Department of Agriculture
$6,000
Brief Project Summary:
Outbreaks of Mexican bean beetles, a leaf-eating eating species of ladybird beetle, devastated crops through the 1980s, when infestations of larvae would devour leaf tissue in soybean fields, leaving just a lacy skeleton behind. This project supports use of beneficial insects to prevent outbreaks. A beneficial parasitic wasp called Pediobis fovelolatus, native to India, lays eggs inside Mexican bean beetle larvae. When those eggs hatch, the wasp larvae feed inside the bean beetle larvae, dramatically reducing the population of pests feeding on soybean leaves. The parasitic wasps have proven to be an effective alternative to insecticides.
Key Beneficiaries:
#agronomists, #extension agents, #farmers
Unique Keywords:
#insect control, #insects, #insects and pests, #integrated pest management, #mexican bean beetle
Information And Results
Project Summary

Survey and monitoring of the Mexican bean beetle population in soybeans in central and southern New Jersey, for the purpose of biological control using the laboratory reared parasitic wasp Pediobis foveolatus (Hymenoptera:Eulophidae).

Project Objectives

Maintain control of Mexican bean beetles in New Jersey.

Project Deliverables

Progress Of Work

Final Project Results

Benefit To Soybean Farmers

Using the parasitoids has resulted in an estimated savings of $1.2 million (in 2010 dollars) in insecticide costs for soybean farmers every year since 1981. There has also been a significant decline in the Mexican Bean Beetle population since the 1980s, resulting in less time on the tractor and in the fields.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.