Erin Hodgson
Dr. Erin Hodgson started working in the Department of Entomology, now the Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Microbiology, at Iowa State University in 2009. She is a professor with extension and research responsibilities in corn and soybeans. She has a general background in integrated pest management (IPM) for field crops. Dr. Hodgson's current extension and research programs are focused on improving corn and soybean production by using IPM tactics to protect yield and increase overall farmer profits. Among other projects, she oversees insecticide efficacy evaluations for soybean aphids, Japanese beetles, and aphids in corn. Erin also helps manage emerging field crop pests and invasive species.
Subscribe to RSS FeedWestern and northern corn rootworms are serious corn pests in Iowa and the Corn Belt, reportedly responsible for over 1 billion dollars in yield loss and control costs annually in the United States. The larvae tunnel into and consume corn roots, which can reduce nutrient and water uptake (Figure...
Iowa’s most significant soybean insect pest, soybean aphid, has host-alternating biology. This species has multiple, overlapping generations on soybean in the summer. Fall migration to buckthorn is based on senescing soybean, and decreasing temperatures and photoperiod. For the majority of the...
Thin Lizzy predicted it in 1976. Actually, the boys and girls are back in town. Over the weekend, the first painted lady butterflies were spotted in Iowa. Why care about this beautiful butterfly? It seems like a distant memory, but remember the thistle caterpillar bonanza on soybean last summer...
Iowa State University’s IPM Team has monitored field crop pests for a long time. The pests have changed over the years, but our goal is the same: to help inform farmers about pest activity in Iowa. Our moth trapping efforts target migratory moths. Black cutworm monitoring is a long-standing...
This week was my last field day of the summer – it’s always is a signal the season is ending. I noted plants are senescing fairly quickly on my drive to Kanawha. However, there are still a few insects active on field crops, and worth scouting for this weekend.
Yesterday, while waiting for my field day stop to begin at the ISU Northeast Research Farm, I noticed a bright green insect land on my leg. At first glance, I thought it was the threecornered alfalfa hopper (Photos 1 and 2). I’ve never seen one in real life and was surprised to see it in...
Today in our corn efficacy evaluation trial, Ashley and our undergraduate team found small corn earworm caterpillars infesting ears (Figures 1 and 2). Caterpillars have a light-colored head but vary considerably in color from light green, tan, pink, maroon, and nearly black. However, they almost...
I was recently asked if adult corn rootworms are done emerging for 2019. Of course, I respond by saying – it depends! A publication by Nowatzki et al. (2002), developed an emergence model for northern and western corn rootworm in...
Today for the first time this summer, I started to notice a few thistle caterpillars that didn’t look quite right. Some were very dark, some look deflated and some were kind of “slimy” in appearance. This happens to insects occasionally as a result of infection of an entomopathogen. That’s just...
My lab has been collecting adult and larval soybean gall midge for a few weeks. We used emergence cages in several habitats to collect adults. This year, they were only collected from 2018 soybean fields in Iowa. Two of my trapping locations have identified second-generation adult captures this...
After visiting several ISU Research and Demonstration Farms this week, it was evident the abundance and diversity of caterpillars in soybean is ongoing. These species represented several insect families. We easily found 8 species while looking at and sweeping early-reproductive soybean. Of...
I was a speaker at the ISU Northern Research Farm field day near Kanawha yesterday. So many questions about thistle caterpillar and soybean gall midge. I also saw some feeding injury to vegetative corn. Here are some pictures:
This year I’ve had a few people ask for tips on scouting for common stalk borer. The larvae are moving from brome to corn throughout Iowa and it is a good time to scout for timely management....
The most effective way to make treatments decisions for pests with chewing mouthparts (e.g., Japanese beetle, bean leaf beetle, caterpillars, and grasshoppers) is to estimate defoliation. I’m a “lumper” and don’t try too hard to distinguish feeding by species. Replicated data over multiple...
I’ve been hearing about and seeing a variety of caterpillars in seedling crops this week. In soybean, you notice thistle caterpillars feeding and making webbed cavities from the leaves. They can be easy to find in early-vegetative soybean but rarely build up to economic populations. Read more...
Moth trapping began April 1 and came to an end May 31. This year, we had more than 45 trap locations and 42 cooperators across the state. These cooperators provide us data on black cutworm (BCW) and true armyworm (TAW) moth captures at their locations, which we use to...
Everyone is talking about the cool, wet spring this year. It's definitely slowed down my research projects, too. Thanks to the help of the Tylka Lab, we have about half our soybean plots in the ground. I am working on soybean aphid efficacy evaluations at the NWRF near Sutherland. I am starting...
This week we begin Week 7 of moth trapping in Iowa. Significant captures of black cutworm (BCW) have occurred in several counties during weeks 3-6 of trapping (bold and * in Table 1). Significant captures occur when 8 or more BCW moths are caught in a wing-style pheromone trap over 2 nights....
This summer, I am starting a couple of new research projects looking at cover crop pest activity that might be relevant to corn production. Shout out to Alison Robertson and Mark Licht for including me on these massive research projects! The usual cover crop pest suspects are migratory moths,...
Each year, Iowa State University’s IPM team monitors field crop pests to help inform farmers and scouting personnel about pest activity in Iowa. This year, our moth trapping network includes black cutworm (BCW) and true armyworm (TAW), two migratory pests of crops in Iowa that are unpredictable...
The IPM team at Iowa State University has been monitoring for field crop pests for a long time. The target pests have changed over the years, but the goal always remains the same: help inform farmers about pest activity in Iowa. One long-standing...
Humans are making more sound, and it can interfere with animals finding mates, food and other essential behaviors. Most of the research showing impacts of human-generated sound is largely focused on vertebrates. Biologists at Mississippi State University were curious about sound potentially...
This week, I’ve had a number of people tell me they spotted Japanese beetle. I was initially surprised, because I track degree days to predict adult emergence every summer and it seemed a bit early. According to the ISU Agronomy Mesonet, adults could be emerging...
Tom Petty said he was “learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings.” The last two weeks have made me think about flies way too much. The black flies, sometimes called buffalo gnats, have been terrible and making it hard to be outside. These small flies (1/4" in length) are black or gray and somewhat...
True armyworm is a migratory pest that arrives in Iowa from southern states and lays eggs on living tissue. Adult females are attracted to fields with green plants, particularly weedy grasses or living cover crops. These plants serve as initial feeding sites for larvae. When these original host...