Deer Tick and Lyme disease in Illinois

Bouseman, J.

Lyme disease continues to be a matter of concern to residents of Illinois. I have been involved in Lyme disease investigations in Illinois for over a dozen years, and for the last eleven years have collaborated with Dr. Jeffrey A. Nelson of Rush Medical College and North Park University on Lyme disease studies. The goal of this activity is to locate and track populations of the "deer tick", Ixodes scapularis (more properly termed the black-legged tick), to assess and monitor those populations for levels of infection with the causative agents of Lyme disease, and to disseminate through established channels of reporting the information obtained.

Encephalitis Prevention Program

Novak, R.

The Champaign-Urbana Encephalitis Prevention Program's (CUEPP) purpose is to monitor and manage the mosquitoes involved in the transmission cycle of Saint Louis Encephalitis in the Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, and University of Illinois areas. The CUEPP does not manage nuisance mosquitoes but only disease-transmitting species in the genus Culex. Management tactics include scouting and treatment of larval habitats, treatment of catch basins, and larval habitat reduction. The CUEPP also is charged to educate the public about mosquitoes through answering resident complaints and distributing an informative pamphlet.

Rootworm dispersal into soybeans

Levine, E. and J. Spencer, S. Isard (UIUC), E. Adee (UIUC), A. Anderson (UIUC), R. Hines (UIUC), L. Paul (UIUC), G. Raines (UIUC)

Western corn rootworms have recently begun to lay eggs outside of cornfields in east central Illinois, causing crop rotation to fail. Beetle movement from corn into soybeans was monitored with vial traps in problem and non problem areas of Illinois. Problem sites were located near Champaign; non-problem sites were located near Monmouth, Perry, and DeKalb. Beetles were numerous in soybeans at Champaign while beetles were scarce at Monmouth and Perry. Moderate beetle numbers were trapped in soybeans at DeKalb. Injury to first-year corn in northern Illinois could occur in the near future.

Survey of corn rootworms in Illinois soybean fields

Spencer, J. and S. Isard (UIUC), Levine, E.

During late July and August 1999, a sweep sample survey of 249 soybean fields from 47 Illinois counties was conducted. WCR populations in east central Illinois rebounded in 1999 from low levels in 1998. The area with high WCR abundance in soybeans did not expand to the south significantly. In general WCR continue to be scarce in soybean fields south of Interstate Highway 70 and west of the Illinois River. WCR abundance in areas north and northwest of east-central Illinois were higher in 1999 than in 1998. The greatest potential for expansion of rotation-resistant WCR is in northern Illinois, where growers can expect to begin seeing significant WCR larval injury in first-year corn in the coming year(s).