Munching, Marching Fall Armyworms Making Grass Disappear

Aug 24, 2016

Fast facts

Fall armyworms being reported in lawns, soybeans, pastures
Management information also in Extension fact sheet FSA7083, ‘Managing Armyworms in Pastures and Hayfields.” http://www.uaex.edu/publications/PDF/FSA-7083.pdf

Kami Marsh’s phone is ringing again and at this time of year, it’s because fall armyworms are grazing down lawns and pastures.

“I’m hearing from homeowners who are seeing large groups of these worms and they’re a little agitated,” said Marsh, a Faulkner County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “One day their grass is there. The next day it’s gone.”

As their name implies, these caterpillars appear in large groups. It often seems as if they appear overnight and in their wake, they leave bare ground where lawns and pastures used to be.

Newly hatched fall armyworms are light green or cream-colored with a dark head and measures about one-sixteenth of an inch long. As it grows, it becomes darker in color and the head has a light colored “Y”-shaped mark down the front. In addition, the next-to-last abdominal segment has four small dark dots. A fully grown fall army worm is about 1.5 inches long.

Morning and evening are the best times to scout for fall armyworms, since those are the times they are most active.

Source:uaex.edu

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.