Despite the decrease in worm pressure, several respondents have noted an increase in egg masses in some fields, which may signal a rebound in worm pressure. By all reports, beet armyworms continue to be most numerous but a variety of other worm species are being seen sporadically. Gregg Nuessly and Matthew Hentz have operated a series of pheromone traps for five economically important moth pests at the Everglades Research and Education Center in Belle Glade for many years. This information may be of interest to growers, scouts and consultants for use in forecasting pest populations. Broad mites are still widely present on pepper in a number of locations across the area.
Infestations are sporadic but seem to be gradually increasing by most reports.
Pepper and eggplant producers are advised to be on the look out for this pest. As with most pests, scouting to detect early infestation is important. It should be noted that none of these materials kills eggs or seems to have enough residual to kill all hatching larvae. Therefore, to achieve control it is necessary to make two applications about 5 days apart to allow time for eggs to hatch and target emerging larvae. Low whitefly numbers continue to be reported across the area at this time.