With spring melons rapidly maturing, now is a good time to step up your scouting for Lepidopterous larvae feeding on developing and mature fruit.  Beet armyworm (BAW) and cabbage looper (CL) are becoming more abundant throughout the area. I’ve had reports of BAW egg masses and larvae showing up in alfalfa and cotton, and our BAW and CL pheromone trap counts increased sharply over the past 2 weeks, particularly in Dome Valley and Yuma Valley where traps peaked at over 40 moths / trap / night. Corn earworm (CEW) trap counts are lower, but they have been steadily increasing over the past month. So be on the lookout for these Lep species, all of which can cause significant economic damage to smooth and netted melons by feeding on developing fruit in the following manner.    
BAW: Although primarily foliage feeders, larvae will cause economic damage to watermelons and other smooth skinned melons by attacking immature fruit. The injury caused by fruit feeding is superficial, but results in cosmetic blemishes left on mature fruit (see image below) and fruit rot that may occur from secondary pathogenic organisms that enter the wounds.  The larvae will occasionally develop inside the fruit, causing abnormal development and abortion of the fruit. 
CL:     In cantaloupes, feeding on crown leaves often leaves a ragged appearance. Although this damage may not be yield limiting, larvae may move to the mature fruit and feed on the netted surface causing cosmetic blemishes (see image below).  Similarly, in watermelons and honeydews larger larvae will feed on the outer rind of maturing fruit causing large silver-colored or darkened scars.
CEW: Damage to cantaloupes and watermelons is not common, however larvae may feed on foliage and burrow in the stem. When larvae are present, they may feed on the developing fruit. Larvae are known to begin to burrow into fruit, feed only for a short time, and then move on to attack another fruit. 
Monitor fields by checking developing fruit for larvae and feeding damage. Treat with insecticides if feeding is observed on the fruit, or larvae can readily be found feeding on leaves. You have several options for controlling these Lep species.   It’s always best to spray when the populations beginning to build, as larvae often feeding on the melon near the soil surface and are difficult to reach with insecticides. To conserve natural enemies important for suppressing other pests (leafminers, whiteflies) consider using a selective insecticide (e.g., Intrepid, Coragen, Dipel/ Xentari). If whiteflies also require control, consider using Exirel or Minecto Pro, or tank-mix with a whitefly material (e.g., PQZ, Sefina, Venom/Scorpion, Courier, Oberon).   It is recommended that you avoid using Radiant or Lannate to prevent unnecessary exposure to western flower thrips. Whichever product you use, be aware of honeybees and other pollinators in or around melon fields. If bees are present, be sure to carefully read labels and determine bee safety of a product before making an application in a melon field.  For more information visit Lepidopterous Larvae Control in Desert Melon Crops 2024.

John Wesley Powell had a profound understanding of the western territories of the United States (US) and he made a strong effort to influence the geographical boundaries of territories and states that were formed in the 19^th century.  Had he been successful with those efforts, our state lines would more closely follow watershed boundaries and the nature of the negotiations for water in the west would be significantly different.
Powell was born in Mount Morris, New York in 1834.  Powell’s family moved to Ohio then Wisconsin before settling in Illinois in 1851.  From an early age he was always interested in history, literature, botany, zoology, and a broad range of natural sciences.  In 1852 he became a teacher and attended several colleges but never did receive a degree.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Powell enlisted in the Union Army at 27 years old, serving as a first lieutenant topographer, cartographer, and military engineer.  On 6 April 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, Powell was hit with a minié ball in his right arm, and it was amputated by field surgeons at the elbow.  After recuperation, he returned to service and was promoted to the rank of Major before the end of the war (Ross, 2018 and Cope, 2019).
After the war, Powell directed much of his interested and energies to the open territories in the western U.S.  The one-armed war veteran organized his first expedition to explore the Green and Colorado Rivers that began on 24 May 1869.  The expedition was completed on 30 August 1869 when Powell and five other men climbed out of the canyon.  Powell’s second expedition on the Colorado River extended from 22 May 1871 to 7 September 1872.  The second trip offered Powell and his team an opportunity to focus on the collection of scientific data and information that included photographs, detailed maps, and observations that were later used for the development of scientific publications.
He became the second director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from 1881 to 1894 (Figure 1).  His experiences in the west had huge influences on Powell and he became an ardent advocate for strict water resource conservation policies for the American West’s river systems.  He saw this as particularly important at the time since most American policy makers in Washington and in the western territories did not want to accept the basic facts regarding the aridity of the west and the limitations of development due to water.
In 1869 at the Montana Constitutional Convention, Powell stated that “All the great values of this territory have ultimately to be measured to you in acre feet.”, which was not fully comprehended or incorporated into water policy.  Another good example of Powell’s prophetic opinions on the management of western water was offered in Los Angeles at the 1893 Irrigation Congress where he stated, “I tell you, gentlemen, you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights, for there is not sufficient water to supply these lands.” and that advice was also generally ignored.
In 1891 the USGS published its 11^th Annual Report (USGS, 1891) that contained several excellent maps.  Perhaps the most famous map from that publication is a map of the arid region of the U.S. (Figure 2) and it is commonly referred to as the John Wesley Powell Map.  This map defined the arid region of the U.S. extending west of the 100^th meridian to the Pacific Coast Range.  Working in the west today, that line is still a good demarcation opening the arid lands of the western U.S.
He resigned from his duties as the USGS Director in 1894 due to the resistance and heavy opposition to his water resource conservation efforts from western politicians.  Dealing with the water resource challenges that we have in the west today, particularly in the Colorado River basin, we can recognize the wisdom and good advice that Powell offered.  We can also see the consistency of political operators tending to ignore natural resource facts and limitations.  Some things do not change.
Now we are primarily dealing with conflicts regarding Colorado River allocations between the upper and lower basins, consisting of states defined by political boundaries and straight survey lines.  We are dealing now with many of the problems that John Wesley Powell was trying to warn people about and possibly prevent or reduce the levels of conflict.  
Thus, it is interesting to consider the Powell Map versus the state maps that we have and what those implications might have been.  We can at least appreciate his capacity to look ahead and the importance of our being able to do so today.

Figure 1.  John Wesley Powell at his desk in the
USGS office, ca. 1891.



Figure 2.  John Wesley Powell’s Map of the Arid Region of the United States,
published in the Eleventh Ann. USGS Report, Part II, PL LXIX, 1891.

References
Cope, M.  2019.  Major John Wesley Powell: 1834-1902.  Utah Geological Survey, September 2019.
Ross, J.F. 2018.  The Visionary John Wesley Powell Had a Plan for Developing the West, But Nobody Listened. Smithsonian, 3 July 2018. 
 
USGS.  1891.  Eleventh Annual Report, United States Geological Survey, 1891.

This study was conducted at the Yuma Valley Agricultural Center. The soil was a silty clay loam (7-56-37 sand-silt-clay, pH 7.2, O.M. 0.7%). Variety: Deluxe (HMX2595) was seeded, then sprinkler-irrigated to germinate seed on March 20, 2024on 84 inches between bed centers. All other water was supplied by furrow irrigation or rainfall. Treatments were replicated five times in a randomized complete block design. Each replicate plot consisted of 25 ft of bed. Treatment beds were separated by single nontreated beds. Treatments were applied with a tractor-mounted boom sprayer that delivered 50 gal/acre at 100 psi to flat-fan nozzles spaced 12 in apart. 

Spray treatments were done on 05-21-2024, 05-31-2024, 06-07-2024 and 06-14-24. Powdery mildew was first seen on 06-05-24. Please see excel file for additional details.  

Disease severity of powdery mildew (caused by Sphaerotheca fuliginea and S. fusca) severity was determined 6-17-2024 by rating 10 plants within each of the four replicate plots per treatment using the following rating system: 0 = no powdery mildew present; 1 = one to two mildew colonies on leaves  ;2 = powdery mildew present on one quarter of leaves; 3 = powdery mildew present on half of the leaves; 4 = powdery mildew present on more than half of leaf surface area ; 5 = powdery mildew present on entire leaf. These ratings were transformed to percentage of leaves infected values before being statistically analyzed.

The data in the table illustrate the degree of disease control obtained by application of the various treatments in this trial. Most treatments significantly reduced the final severity of powdery mildew compared to nontreated plants. Quintec, Merivon, Tesaris, Luna Sensation, and V6M-5-14 V gave the best disease control. Phytotoxicity symptoms were not noted for any treatments in this trial.

ANR Webinar 10/17 click link for details.

We are in the process of organizing The Desert Difference: A Showcase of AgTech Opportunities for Growing in the Desert. The two-day event will be held November 13-14^th in Yuma, AZ. The first day will be a Field Day, the second will be a standard conference with keynote speakers and breakout sessions. Details of the conference will be coming soon. The focus of this article is the Field Day. As with our previous AgTech Field Days, the workshop will feature the latest ag technologies being demonstrated in the field. I’ve been reaching out to multiple companies but am sure I’m not aware of all the cutting-edge technologies out there. We would like to showcase as many innovative ag technologies as possible, so please contact me if you are interested in demoing your equipment or know someone that is. It’s an open invitation - private companies, and university and government researchers are all welcome!

Fig. 1. Previous University of Arizona AgTech Field Days.

This inquiry has been brought to us for different herbicides; How much time does this product require to safely plant lettuce? 
Of course, this depends on many variables such as the management done in the crop before lettuce, texture, water applied, rate, climatic conditions presented, and many other factors. 
The following table published in this Newsletter by Barry Tickes can serve as a general guideline to base Integrated Pest Management decisions and program our strategies. It’s always recommended to check the label for the product used in previous crops.

Aphids are sap-sucking insects that depend on the nutritional content of the sap ingested from the plant hosts for proper growth and development. Nitrogen availability is one of the most important factors in the development of herbivore populations. Excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer to crops is likely to increase insect pests feeding preference and consumption resulting in the survival, growth, and reproduction of the pests. This particularly affects aphids where excessive nitrogen application to host crops such as lettuce, wheat, sorghum, etc. may boost their populations by enhancing their growth and development, thus reducing their generation time, resulting in an increase in the number of generations and density during the cropping season. 

Report from a study conducted on Arugula shown that excessive supply of nitrogen increased green peach aphid density. In some situations, high nitrogen levels in plant tissue can decrease resistance and increase susceptibility to aphids’ attacks. Given that, adequate management of fertilizer like nitrogen can tremendously help to manage aphids which are difficult to control pests specifically in organic lettuce production. In addition to pest management, effective fertilizer usage can also result in economic and environmental benefits. 

Like fertilizer management, water management is also very important for effective pest control. Water availability around plant roots affects the rate at which nutrients are 

absorbed by the plants. Thus, an increase in water availability will increase nitrogen uptake which can affect the population dynamic of aphids. Additionally, with high water availability there is an increase in phloem pressure making food more accessible to sap-sucking insect pests. Supplying the required amount of water using appropriate irrigation methods and irrigation scheduling can be beneficial for pest management. Although this practice is not likely to completely prevent infestation of aphids, it can surely play a role in reducing the density of aphid populations on crops. 

 

Figure 1. Aphid selection of host plants: (a) The migrating aphid’s choice of landing on a particular plant depends on receiving the plant-reflected wavelengths (between about 500 nm and 600 nm); upon landing, antennal receptors detect the plant surface volatiles for initial assessment. (b) After making contact with the plant surface, the aphid briefly and tentatively pierces the epidermis using its stylet (<1 min) and ingests a small quantity of plant sap for further evaluation by a gustatory organ in the epipharyngeal area. (c) If the initial assessment is favorable, the aphid penetrates the epidermis to pierce the mesophyll and parenchyma tissues and briefly ingests more sap from vacuoles for additional evaluation and to determine the appropriateness of further ingestion (<1 min). (d) Upon identifying the host plant, the 

aphid pierces the epidermis of the leaf and passes through the intercellular air spaces of the mesophyll cells using its stylet to reach the sieve tube element in plant phloem, releasing salivary enzymes to protect the mouthparts and prevent plant tissue repair, enabling continuous sap consumption. If ingestion in the sieve tube exceeds 10 min, the host plant is deemed suitable (Xia et al. 2023). 

Selected References: 

1. - Altieri, M. A., C. I. Nicholls, and M. A. Fritz. Manage insects on your farm: a guide to ecology strategies. SARE. https://www.sare.org/resources/manage-insects-on-your-farm/ 
2. - Aqueel, M. A., and S. R. Leather. 2011. Effect of nitrogen fertilizer on the growth and survival of Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) and Sitobion avenae (F.) (Homoptera: Aphididae) on different wheat cultivars. Crop Protection. 30:216-221. 
3. - Bal, R., M. Groshok, and Y. Jama. 2024. Effects of nitrogen and potassium-based fertilizers on green peach aphid and abundance and arugula condition and growth. The Scientist. 6:1. https://journals.mcmaster.ca/iScientist/article/view/2931 
4. - Sinha, R., B. Singh, P. K. Rai, A. Kumar, S. Jamwal, and B. K. Sinha. 2018. Soil fertility management and its impact on mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Cogent Food & Agriculture. 4: 145094. 
5. - Xia, C., W. Xue, Z. Li, J. Shi, G. Yu, and Y. Zhang. 2023. Presenting the Secrets: exploring endogenous defense mechanisms in chrysanthemums against aphids. Horticulturae. 9: 937. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9080937 

Area wide Insect Trapping Network   VegIPM Update, Vol. 14, No. 21, Oct 19, 2022
 
Results of the most recent pheromone and sticky trap catches can be viewed here.
 
Corn earworm::            
CEW moth counts continuing to increase in areas, and about average for late-September
 
Beet armyworm:         
Trap counts increased in most locations, bet well below average for mid- September.
 
Cabbage looper:          
Cabbage looper activity slowly increasing, particularly in  Dome Valley and Wellton. About average for this time of season.
 
Diamondback moth:     
DBM moths starting to become active in a few areas (Dome and Wellton); below average for this time of the year.
 
Whitefly:                      
Adult movement increased in the past week, but below average for this time of year. 
 
Thrips:                          
Thrips adults increased markedly in many locations (Tacna, Dome, Yuma Valley), and higher than previous years.
 
Aphids:                        
Aphid movement is absent and consistent with what we typically see during September. 
 
Leafminers:                   
Adult activity up in a few locations (Yuma Valley), below average for September.