Spring flooding killed many crop pest insects

Spring flooding that injured Indiana cropland delivered an unanticipated bonus to farmers and homeowners -- less crop-eating insects.

Soaked soil conditions in May and early June killed many insects by destroying their eggs or larva, said John Obermeyer, a field crops entomologist with the Purdue University Extension.

"Right now we're considering extremely low numbers of corn rootworm beetles, specially the Western corn rootworm beetle, as well as the Japanese beetle," he thought

Obermeyer said the floods hit about the time that rootworm eggs emerge into larva. Those grub-like creatures had a hard time getting from side to side the saturated soils and finding corn roots to eat.