The 2026 field season is well underway in Ohio with planting happening all across the state. Each year, the Tilmon Lab along with collaborators around the state set traps to monitor five "Lep" (aka moth) pests. These moths include, black cutwork (BCW), true armyworm (AMW), Western bean cutworm (WBC), corn earworm (CEW) and fall armyworm (FAW). We use a green bucket trap equipped with a lure that specifically attracts the target moth species. Traps are placed on the edge of an field planted to corn. The moth stage of these pests are not agronomic problems - however, the moths lay eggs that then hatch into caterpillars and those caterpillars then feed on corn across the state. By monitoring for the adults, we understand when adult activity is at it's peak, so we have a better idea of the timeframe we need to scout our fields for the larvae. 
Each pest is monitored for a specific period of time. First up is BCW and AMW. We set our traps mid-April and monitor until the end of May for these two pests. While they can be active longer than this, we cover the peak flight. After BCW and AMW we then set our traps for WBC and CEW starting the beginning of June. WBC typically peaks beginning to mid-July, so we end monitoring at the end of July. CEW we monitor for a total of 12 weeks, so monitoring will go from June until late August. Lastly, after the FAW outbreak a few years ago, we added FAW traps that we monitor from August to October.
Our Lep monitoring network has a number of collaborators across the state that are checking traps weekly and reporting numbers so that we can get updates posted in the weekly C.O.R.N. newsletter. For the most up-to-date report, click here!