Growers who are considering chemical controls need to weigh the costs of those treatments against the uncertainty surrounding how they will perform. Wedberg suggests growers not consider insecticides unless their fields show yellowed or cupped leaves. Because the soybean aphid is new to the United States, there are no insecticides registered for it, Wedberg says. In fact, no insecticide is labeled for control of aphids in soybeans. However, it is legal to apply insecticides that are registered for other insect species that attack soybeans.
Growers also are concerned about soybean aphids transmitting diseases to the crop.
Although the soybean aphid may transmit plant diseases, it's too late for growers to begin spraying insecticides to limit disease transmission by aphids. Like the soybean plant itself, the soybean aphid is a native of China. In China the aphid only attacks soybean plants and buckthorn, a woody shrub. Scientific articles about the aphids are written in Chinese. A faculty member who reads Chinese has helped translate some of that information.