Dusky Slug in Field Corn and Soybean

dark brown slug on a green leaf
Photo: Michael Nerrie, Flicker (used under CC license)

June 2, 2021

Ambient moisture causes methomyl residues on corn plants to rapidly lose toxicity to the pest slug, Arion subfuscus, Müller
(Gastropoda, Stylommatophora)

The carbamate insecticide methomyl is sometimes used to control slugs in field corn and soybean by foliar applications, but control outcomes in research trials and commercial operations have been mixed. In this study,
laboratory bioassays were conducted on dusky slug, Arion subfuscus Müller, a common pest of corn and soybean in the Mid-Atlantic United States, to evaluate residual toxicity of Lannate LV (methomyl) at low and high
concentrations corresponding to label recommended field rates, and if toxicity may be affected by ambient moisture or repellency to treated plants. Without wetting events, methomyl residues on corn plants caused 90–100% mortality of A. subfuscus for two days and 70–90% mortality for six days. When corn plants were briefly misted with ca. 0.3 cm of water 6 h after methomyl application, mortality was 36% 12 h after treatment, and 0 to 5% 24 h after treatment for both low and high rates. Repellency of A. subfuscus to corn plants treated with the high rate of methomyl was narrowly significant (P = 0.04) and low rate was not significant. These results suggest that high ambient moisture needed to elicit slug activity in the field also abates toxicity of methomyl residues, explaining why field control is usually poor despite high mortality in the lab.