Hello All – Just a quick update on soybean aphid. Two forms of aphid data are now free on the web:

1. SBA numbers per plant: TheUSDA soybean rust site is now live for aphid counts. In the upper right corner of the page, switch the view from soybean rust to soybean aphid to see the aphid maps. Each colored dot is a separate observation from a plot or field.

2. NC suction trap network: Now ‘live’ with weekly 2006 data, including the five traps in Michigan.

The only place reporting SBA over threshold are research plots in Western MN (Crookston area) – western MN & IA had high suction trap catches last fall. Otherwise, all other locations in the Midwest US and Canada remain very low for SBA. If suction trap catches in the fall 2005 were predictive of SBA populations the next season, this is exactly what we would have predicted so far for 2006.

Chris DiFonzo
Michigan State University
Field Crops Entomology Extension & Research