Blayne Reed, Extension Agent IPM in Hale, Swisher and Floyd counties, conducted a sugarcane aphid overwintering study near Hale Center. Last November he caged sugarcane aphids on Johnsongrass, installed temperature recorders and let the winter weather do what it would. He returned to the study site this week and, after careful below-ground and above-ground examination, concluded that sugarcane aphids did not overwinter at the study site. Full details including temperature data are reported here: http://txscan.blogspot.com/2015/04/sugarcane-aphid-overwintering-study.html . This gives us confidence in saying that we think the sugarcane aphid is not able to overwinter on the High Plains.
However, sugarcane aphid did successfully overwinter in the southern part of Texas. Dr. Robert Bowling has spent several weeks looking for the aphid in many counties in south Texas and has just issued the first sugarcane aphid distribution maps of the year at http://txscan.blogspot.com/p/2015-distribution-map.html . It seems that the aphid is starting a little bit closer to the High Plains than it did in 2014, but we do not know what this means in terms of an actual arrival date on the High Plains.
header
