ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER CROP SIDE 19 Soybean leaves, stems, and pods are a food source for various insects. Most years, the amount of feeding does not warrant control in Ontario. But, in dry years, it is not uncommon to find individual fields or parts of fields that reach control thresholds. Japanese beetle feeding was high in 2025. This insect is easily identifiable by its bright, metallic-green head and coppery wings. Adults also have 12 white tufts of hair along the boundary of their wings (see Figure 1). Sometimes, the beetles are difficult to find, and only the leaf damage is evident. Since grasshoppers and other insects may also be feeding in the same field, it is helpful to distinguish the difference in feeding appearance between these two insects. Japanese beetles leave a distinctive "skeletonized" or lace-like appearance, feeding between leaf veins (see Figure 2). Grasshoppers (Figure 3), on the other hand, create ragged holes in the leaves and also feed on the petioles, stems, and pods (see Figure 4). Control measures are warranted for both insects if leaf feeding reaches 15 per cent when soybeans are at the R1 (beginning flower) to R4 (full pod) growth stage and 25 per cent at the R5 (beginning seed) to R6 (full seed) stage. Please visit the Ontario Crop Protection Hub online, the official crop protection resource of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, to find pest management and crop protection options available in Ontario for these and other pests. • Japanese beetle and grasshopper feeding in soybeans Jake Munroe Crop side with... Horst Bohner, Soybean Specialist, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Figure 1. Japanese Beetle Figure 2. Beetle feeding Figure 3. Grasshopper Figure 4. Grasshopper feeding
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