September 30, 2002
Vol. 1; Issue 1

Production Update: Lettuce and cole crop planting is now in full swing in all Yuma growing locations. Thunderstorms that occurred 2 -3 weeks ago did not appear to have a significant impact on lettuce/broccoli plantings. The recent change in the weather and the cooler night time temperatures appear to favor stand establishment and should reduce insect pressure to a certain degree.

Pest Update: Cabbage looper populations have been high on fall cantaloupes this fall season. Larvae and eggs have been present on foliage since late August and significant leaf feeding has been observed on untreated melons at the Yuma Ag Center. Flea beetles are very active at this time also. Pay particularly close attention to emerging produce stands located near or adjacent to cotton, alfalfa, sudangrass, weedy ditches and field margins.
Beet armyworm and cabbage looper pressure has been heavy for the past 2 weeks but egg numbers appear to have declined over the past few days.

For the 5th consecutive year we are conducting an area-wide trapping network which involves the placement of yellow sticky traps throughout the Yuma Valley, Gila Valley and DomeValley/Wellton growing areas (5-6 traps / area). The whiteflies, leafminer and thrips species reported below in Table 2 are attracted to the yellow color of the trap, and thus the trap catches reflect adult flight activity during the day time. Additionally temperature data from AZMET stations are shown in Table 1. In general, whitefly movement appears to be declining as temperatures begin to cool off, and thrips and leafminer activity remains fairly low.

Table 1. Temperature recorded from AZMET stations at three Yuma growing locations.

Table 2. Insect activity measured from yellow sticky traps at at three Yuma growing locations.

AZMET Weather Data

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