Relationship of Sweet Corn Silking Stage to Oviposition by the Corn Earworm

Abstract

It is commonly believed that corn earworm (CEW) do not oviposit (i.e., lay eggs) on sweet corn silks after they have dried. If true, insecticide treatments could logically cease at some predetermined time interval after pollination, because silks commence drying within hours of pollination. Problematic however, is that neither conventional wisdom, nor the historical literature, precisely defines the point at which silks are sufficiently dry to become unattractive for oviposition. We hypothesized that CEW cease to oviposit on silks that are 50% dried.