This page includes information specific to the southern soybean production region. See also the northern region soybean page.
Insect pest risk
| High risk |
Reduced risk |
Low risk |
| Pod sucking bugs |
- Sequential plantings of soybean (pod sucking bug populations move progressively from early to late plantings, eventually building to very high levels).
- Water stressed plants (set fewer pods and suffer greater % seed damage).
|
Late soybean plantings (greater risk of podsucking bugs). |
|
| Slugs and snails |
- Annual rainfall >500 mm
- Above average spring–autumn rainfall
- No-till stubble retained
- Previous paddock history of slugs and snails
- Summer volunteers and weeds
- No sheep in enterprise
|
- 450-500 mm annual rainfall
- Tillage or burnt stubble only
- Sheep on stubble
|
- <450 mm annual rainfall
- Drought
- Tillage and burnt stubble
- No volunteers and weeds
|
| Other pests |
- Soybean close to lucerne increases the risk of early infestations of lucerne crown borer.
- Use of non selective pesticides in the vegetative stages, especially synthetic pyrethroids, may flare Helicoverpa
|
- Early spraying for podsucking bugs with synthetic pyrethroids at flowering flares mites and Helicoverpa
- Low plant density (increased risk of lodging if infested with lucerne crown borer)
- Water-stressed plants
- greater risk of terminal damage by Helicoverpa and grass blue butterfly larvae
- more attractive to soybean moth
|
Planting close to trees (more attractive to soybean moth) |
Pest incidence
| Pest |
Crop stage |
| Emergence |
Vegetative |
Flowering |
Podding |
Grainfill |
| Slugs and snails* |
Damaging |
Damaging |
|
|
|
| Loopers |
|
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
|
| Aphids |
|
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
|
| Native budworm (H. punctigera) |
|
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
| Grass blue butterfly |
|
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
| Lucerne crown borer |
|
Damaging |
Present |
Present |
Damaging |
| Mites |
|
Present |
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
| Soybean moth |
|
|
Damaging |
Damaging |
Damaging |
| Podsucking bugs |
|
|
Present |
Damaging |
Damaging |
* Snails may also cause grain contamination at harvest
| Present |
Present in crop but generally not damaging |
| Damaging |
Crop susceptible to damage and loss. |
Soybean crops can be attacked by pests at any stage from seedling to close to harvest. Soybean leaves are more attractive to foliage-feeding pests than the leaves of other summer pulses. The crop becomes attractive to a greater range of pests from flowering onwards.
Key IPM strategies
- Tolerate early damage. Minimise early season sprays to conserve beneficials.
- Selective insecticides – Use biopesticides in vegetative soybeans prior to flowering to preserve beneficials:
- Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is effective against loopers (under 12 mm)
- NPV is effective agains Helicoverpa larvae (less than 7 mm long).
- Consider the use of spray oils where aphid populations are low to moderate.
- Use soft options that are pest-specific (e.g. pirimicarb is an aphid-specific product and softer on beneficial species than broad spectrum insecticides).
- Controlling aphids with broad spectrum chemicals in the vegetative stage can flare aphids, mites, and Helicoverpa during subsequent crop stages.
- Pests such as aphids often infest the edge of a field, not the entire field. Limiting spraying to borders where these pests occur enables the beneficial population to re-establish faster.
More information:
