A New Cultural Control Alternative for Seedcorn Maggot (SCM) in New York State Field Crop Production
Managing Seedcorn Maggot
Seedcorn Maggot: A Soil-Borne Pest of Early Season Crops in New York
Seedcorn maggot (SCM), Delia platura (Meigen), is a soil-borne, early season pest of corn, soybean and other New York field crops of economic importance. It is especially concerning to producers because there are no rescue options once seed damage occurs. SCM larvae feed directly on ungerminated seeds in the soil, as well as young seedlings. Two to four generations occur annually, depending on environmental conditions, but overwinter exclusively as pupae in the ground. The peak adult emergence from overwintering pupae in early spring is most relevant for crop protection because adults lay eggs during the time field crops are planted in New York (NYSIPM 2023).
Pest Avoidance as a Viable Management Strategy for Seedcorn Maggot
Once a crop is germinated and reaches a robust life stage, the economic threat posed by SCM is reduced. The short time window of vulnerability—immediately after planting—creates an opportunity to use avoidance as a cultural control practice. The catch to this scenario is that adult SCM emergence from overwintering pupae must be accurately predicted each spring. If this is achieved, pest avoidance becomes a viable management strategy for field crop producers. For this specific reason, New York State Integrated Pest Management (NYSIPM) is partnering with the Poveda Lab (Poveda 2023) in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University to deploy a predictive early season SCM adult emergence model.