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. 

Photo of Erin Hodgson
March 3, 2016 11:45 AM

Many of you know about naturally-occurring entomopathogens in the soil that can kill or suppress insects. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a well-known example of a bacteria that kills insects, and was eventually included in plants as a transgenic protein. My Ph.D. student, Eric...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites
September 29, 2015 9:04 AM

Pine seed bug

As harvest begins and other plants in the landscape senesce, many insects and arthropods move to find overwintering habitat. Sometimes...

Insects and Mites, Pesticide Education
August 25, 2015 9:19 AM

The last few weeks have been full of soybean aphid discussions. Populations have been going up, down and otherwise looked sort of bumpy this summer. Many fields exceeded the economic threshold of 250 per plant and were treated with foliar insecticides in August, particularly in northern Iowa. My...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites
August 14, 2015 9:42 AM

Corn rootworm adult emergence is underway in Iowa. The three species of rootworm found in Iowa include the northern corn rootworm (NCR), southern corn rootworm (SCR), and western corn rootworm (WCR). Adults of all three species can be found until the first frost. Knowing how to distinguish the...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites
August 5, 2015 2:00 PM

This week, I've had several calls and emails about aphids feeding on corn. They aren't a persistent pest, but can occasionally be found in Iowa corn. I wrote up a short ICM News article in 2011. Although an economic...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites
July 21, 2015 11:40 AM

Now that corn silks are out all over Iowa, many people scouting fields will notice a mixture of silk-feeding insects (e.g., corn rootworm, Japanese beetle, grasshoppers, etc.). Sometimes I get asked about how long corn rootworm will emerge. It all comes down to temperature. Like all insects,...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites
July 16, 2015 9:43 AM

Yesterday during my class at FEEL, I asked participants to go out in the corn and soybean plots and find pests. It didn’t take too long to find a few plants loaded with soybean aphid. It was the largest natural colonies I have seen this summer (potentially exciting for my research but not great...

Insects and Mites
July 15, 2015 2:37 PM

In case you want to try something a little different, you may be interested in listening to a podcast about field crop pest management. If you are new to podcasting, it is basically an audio file. Some people listen to podcasts on their computer/smart device, in their vehicles while traveling,...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites
July 14, 2015 1:46 PM

Every summer since 2001, Iowa farmers have to think about soybean aphid. Well, I hope you are thinking about our primary soybean insect pest! 

Aphids have been detected throughout the northern counties this year, and some are asking if it will be a "bad" aphid year. I have to say it's too...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites
July 13, 2015 12:23 PM

Last summer, I posted an ICM News article about how scouting for alfalfa weevils in southern Iowa. It doesn't take too many accumulated degree days for them to start moving around and laying eggs. If you grow or scout...

Crop Production, Insects and Mites

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