What's eating my pecan 'cape fear'?

Pecan 'Cape Fear' is a scab-resistant southeastern US cultivar, which removes the single worst pecan disease from the equation. However, it still faces pecan weevil — the most damaging insect pest of the nut itself — plus hickory shuckworm, pecan aphids causing leaf damage and honeydew, and stink bugs that inject the kernel during development.

Adults puncture nuts at shell-hardening stage to lay eggs; legless larvae consume the kernel entirely. Infested nuts fall early and are completely hollow. Apply insecticide (e.g. carbaryl or permethrin) when adults emerge in late summer, timed to the gel stage before shell hardening. Monitor using circle traps on trunks.

Larvae tunnel through the shuck, cutting off nutrient flow; kernels fail to fill properly, resulting in small, shrivelled, or blank nuts. Apply insecticide at first adult emergence in late summer. Destroy old shucks after harvest, as they harbour overwintering pupae.

Black pecan aphid in particular causes angular yellow then brown leaf patches leading to early defoliation; yellow aphid complex produces heavy honeydew and sooty mould. Scout leaf undersides regularly. Black pecan aphid thresholds are very low (3 per leaflet). Apply selective aphicides (flonicamid, spirotetramat) to preserve beneficial insects.

Piercing mouthparts inject the developing kernel during the water and gel stages, causing dark kernel spots (kernel necrosis) and premature drop. Monitor with pyramid traps from late summer. Timely insecticide applications at nut development stages. Remove weedy field margins that harbour overwintering adults.