Casebearer activity slowed by cool, wet weather

Nut cluster damaged by casebearer larvae

   If you have been following our casebearer counts (posted under the special "Pecan Nut Casebearer" tab above), you will notice that damage by first summer generation larvae has remained at 1% cluster damage all week. Will damage levels ever increase above 1% this year? If so, when?
   Insect activity is greatly influenced by the weather. Casebearer moths are nocturnal creatures. When overnight temps are low (in the 50's and lower) or when rain showers occur during the evening hours, adult activity is greatly reduced. If you look at our moth catch data, you'll find that the numbers bounce up and down. We always caught high numbers of moths following a period of warm, clear nights.
   The long range forecast, predicts a return to summer like temperature during the second half of next week. That's when I predict we will start seeing a rapid rise in casebearer damage. In the mean time, we will continue scouting.