Corn Earworm in Flowering Soybeans

Jun 30, 2026

By Dominic Reisig

For many years, corn earworm has been the most costly insect pest in North Carolina soybeans. This includes both the cost of control and yield losses.

Corn earworm is usually a later-season pest. It is more common in late-planted soybeans because local populations build up first in corn. Corn acts as a nursery crop. Larvae feed in corn, drop to the soil, pupate, and later emerge as moths. These moths then move into soybeans that are flowering in late July and August.

However, corn earworm moths can also migrate from southern areas. We have found corn earworms in North Carolina soybeans and wheat as early as May. These were almost certainly migrants from the south. This may help explain why some earlier-planted soybeans have had unusually high corn earworm numbers this year.

Many growers are asking whether they should treat corn earworm in soybeans at R1, R2, or R3. These stages are beginning flower, full flower, and beginning pod.

For soybeans at R1 and R2, the answer is probably no.

Soybeans can make far more flowers than they can turn into harvestable pods. Because of this, they can often compensate for corn earworm feeding on flowers. North Carolina research showed that soybeans could tolerate corn earworm levels up to three times the treatment threshold during R1 and R2 without yield loss.

Source : ncsu.edu

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