Report warns of shortcomings in controlling sugarcane aphids

Mississippi State University researchers have reported two incidents of less than satisfactory control using Transform on sugarcane aphids in grain sorghum across a broad geography.

"At the time we were mixing a lot of pyrethroids with Transform, so initial thoughts were that there might have been some antagonism," the report written by extension entomologists Angus Catchot and Jeff Gore said. "Subsequent testing did not indicate that this was the case.

The reseachers completed a bioassay where they applied 1 ounce of Transform and 4 ounces of Sivanto at 10 GPA with hollow cone nozzles to heading grain sorghum. Leaves from the crops were analyzed in different times over 10 days. Leaf discs were divided into two groups and placed in growth chambers at 85 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit and infested with aphids. Subsequently, mortality was observed at 48 hours.

The results presented should be considered preliminary, but were release by the researchers due to the expectation that temperatures will drop into the 50s in Mississippi next week.