Written collaboratively by Adam Varenhorst, Govinda Shrestha, Kushal Giri, Philip Rozeboom, and Patrick Wagner.
During 2026, we will be producing a new weekly update on sunflower insect pest activity. This information will be attained via a sampling network of eight locations that are in central South Dakota. There are several pests that can attack sunflower throughout the season, and we will be monitoring traps and plants to determine if any of these pests are present and their population abundance.
July 9, 2026
This is the third weekly sunflower pest activity update (July 2-July 9, 2026) from central South Dakota, covering eight fields: one field in Hyde County, three fields in Sully County, and four fields in Hughes County. Sunflower pests were monitored using emergence traps and pheromone lure-baited traps. The results are summarized below in Table 1 and the hotspot map and density map (Figure 2). This work is supported by SD Oilseed Council.
The activity of the complex of moths in sunflower continues to increase in central South Dakota. This indicates that growers should begin scouting sunflower fields for moth activity, especially if fields are at bud stage (R3) or later. For more information on scouting, please review previous articles on sunflower moth and banded sunflower moth scouting methods and management recommendations. We collected sunflower moth, banded sunflower moth and Arthur’s sunflower moth, which are all species capable of damaging developing sunflower seeds. We captured sunflower moths (Figure 1-A) in six of the eight traps with the highest capture in Hughes County (1-114 per trap), and the fewest in Sully County (0-3 per trap) (Table 1). We also caught an increased number of banded sunflower moth in Hughes and Sully counties (Table 1). In addition, we detected low populations of Arthur’s sunflower moth in Hyde and Sully counties.
No red sunflower seed weevil adults were captured in emergence traps at this time. Other insects that we found in the traps included the adult sunflower maggot, adult sunflower receptacle maggot, and a redbacked cutworm moth (Figure 1). A hotspot and pest density map of sunflower moth complex are presented in Figure 2.
As a reminder, this pest monitoring update is to provide a basis for areas where sunflowers should be monitored for the detected pests and does not provide enough clarity on populations per field for making management decisions based on these data alone. As early planted sunflower fields are beginning to reach the bud stage, scouting for major insect pests should begin.
| Location | Red sunflower seed weevil | Banded sunflower moth | Arthur’s Sunflower Moth | Sunflower Moth | Sunflower Receptacle Maggot | Sunflower Maggot | Redbacked Cutworm Moth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highmore | 0 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pierre 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 116 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 101 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Onida 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Onida 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 0 |
| Onida 3 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Previous Recaps
This is the second weekly sunflower pest activity update (June 25–July 2, 2025) from central South Dakota, covering eight fields: one field at Highmore, two fields at Onida, and four fields at Pierre. Sunflower pests were monitored using emergence traps and pheromone lure-baited traps. The results are summarized via. Table, hotspot map and density map. This work is supported by SD Oilseed Council.
From June 25-July 2, we caught sunflower moths (Figure 1-A) in all eight traps with highest capture in Hughes County (13-46 per trap) and fewest in Hyde (6 per trap) and Sully (1-4 per trap) counties (Table 1; Figure 2). We also caught one banded sunflower moth male adult Sully County (Figure 1-B). No red sunflower seed weevil adults were captured in emergence traps at this time. Other insects that we found in traps include sunflower maggot adults (Figure 1-C), sunflower receptacle maggot adult (Figure 1-D) and a redbacked cutworm moth. A hotspot and pest density map of sunflower moth complex are presented in Figure 2.
As a reminder, this pest monitoring update is to provide a basis for areas where sunflowers should be monitored for the detected pests and does not provide enough clarity on populations per field for making management decisions based on these data alone. As early planted sunflower fields are beginning to reach the bud stage, scouting for major insect pests should begin.
| Location | Red sunflower seed weevil | Banded sunflower moth | Sunflower Moth | Sunflower Receptacle Maggot | Sunflower Maggot | Redbacked Cutworm Moth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highmore | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre 1 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre 2 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Onida 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Onida 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
During this week, we observed very minimal populations of insect pests, which is not a surprise as most of the major sunflower insect pests attack the sunflower bud or developing seeds. We positively identified sunflower moths, sunflower maggot adults, redbacked cutworm moths, and sunflower receptacle maggot adult (Table 1). At this time, no action is needed based on the small populations of the observed insect pests.
| Location | Red sunflower seed weevil | Banded sunflower moth | Sunflower Moth | Sunflower Receptacle Maggot | Sunflower Maggot | Redbacked Cutworm Moth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highmore | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Pierre 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pierre 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pierre 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Onida 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Onida 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Onida 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Onida 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
