By Les Harrison, Wakulla County Extension Director 850-926-3931.

Thinking ahead to the warmer months in north Florida, hay producers may be facing a new concern for their bermudagrass fields this coming season. Producers need to more close exam-ine any bermudagrass pastures or hayfields for a new exotic insect pest, the Bermudagrass Stem Maggot. Counties in south Georgia reported the stem maggot in July, 2010 and have experi-enced a resurgence of the fly causing dieback on bermudagrass hay fields this year. We have been monitoring the insect pest moving into Florida since last year, however it was not con-firmed in pastures until this fall when maggots were found feeding on bermudagrass in suspect hay fields in north Florida.

Read the entire article at http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/newsletters/Newsletter_%2001_17_12.pdf

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