By Robert Wright, Extension Entomologist

The sugarcane aphid has been detected in a Nebraska grain sorghum field near Pawnee City, according to the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Board. The low aphid levels are not an economic concern.

This is the first reported sighting of this aphid on Nebraska sorghum. This aphid does not overwinter in Nebraska and must fly up each year from southern areas where Sorghum spp. plants remain green overwinter. 

For more information on this pest please see this 2016 CropWatch article.

The map in Figure 1, showing counties with confirmed sugarcane aphids, is regularly updated and available at https://www.myfields.info/pests/sugarcane-aphid, a collaborative effort of Cooperative Extension.