Ongoing research on how best to manage a relatively new soybean pest is occurring across four states as experts from Iowa State University, the University of Nebraska, South Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota collaborate to study soybean gall midge (SGM).

First discovered in the Midwest in 2019, SGM continues to spread slowly across Iowa and neighboring states, mostly through the western half of Iowa, causing plant injury and reducing yields.

SGM larvae feed on the stems of soybeans while entering through plant fissures a few weeks after adult emergence, typically in late May through mid-June. 

There are few clues as to where exactly the pest came from, but entomologists are researching how best to limit plant injury and continued spread.

Midwest soybean gall midge...