Author Archives: p-porter
Cankerworm caterpillars hit Texas trees
This week I’m receiving reports about spring cankerworm infestations in counties west of the Fort Worth, Texas area. Spring cankerworms (actually caterpillars, not worms) feed on a wide range of trees, and can defoliate trees in early spring. Although cankerworms are present in low numbers every year, periodically conditions are right for widespread outbreaks. The last time I remember this happening in the Dallas area was about 11 years ago. If the reports are correct, this might be another “year of the cankerworm”–at least in some Texas counties. And… Read More →
What’s all the buzz about insect hotels?
Insect pollinators seem to be receiving some overdue attention these days. Pollinator insects provide incalculable services to humans via increased fruit production and crop pollination. According to the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, 3/4 of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. This new interest in bees is resulting in a renaissance of a sorts in creative ideas for attracting and sheltering pollinator insects in backyards and parks and even hotels. In European hotels and hostels I’m told… Read More →
New study on bees and neonics
Are insecticides to blame for killing off the honey bee? That question has stimulated lively debate in both scientific and policy circles the past two years. At the heart of the controversy is a group of insecticides known as neonicotinoids. Neonics, as they’re sometimes called, have risen over the past 20 years to become the number one class of insecticides sold worldwide, and are being used increasingly by nurseries and home gardeners to control a variety of landscape and garden pest problems. Environmental groups contend that the case is… Read More →
For Monarchs not all milkweeds are equal
Graceful and beautiful at the same time, the sight of a Monarch butterfly never fails to lift my heart. In Texas, Monarchs are harbingers of both spring and fall. In the spring, Monarchs are seen traveling north to exploit the emerging crop of milkweed plants favored by their caterpillars. In the fall, Texas serves as a flyway for southward migrating butterflies, as most of the U.S. eastern population of Monarchs heads toward their overwintering habitat in Michoacan State, in the Sierra Madre mountains west of Mexico City. In recent years, however,… Read More →
Borer gets a little closer
What’s shiny and Godzilla green, easily fits on a penny, and has resulted in the death of tens of millions of trees over the past dozen years? If you’ve been paying attention to this blog, you might guess the emerald ash borer (EAB). Over the past few years my colleagues and I have been involved with a monitoring project designed to detect the first EAB entering north Texas. During this time I’ve watched the beetles inch closer to Texas–moving from its initial point of invasion in Michigan throughout the Ohio River valley and… Read More →
Getting cities ready for mosquito season
After the horrible year for West Nile virus in 2012, many Texas cities woke up to the need to devote more people and health department resources to mosquito management. To assist cities in training employees in the area of mosquito abatement, Dr. Sonja Swiger with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension has begun offering workshops covering the basics of mosquito identification, biology and control. This year we will have workshops in nine cities, including Dallas. Dates and links to brochures and registration information are listed below. If you work… Read More →
Save the date for Ento-Specialist Training
If you’re a Master Gardener or Master Naturalist with a fascination with insects, you may want to save the date for the 2015 Master Volunteer Entomology Specialist (MVES) Training. This year’s training will be held in Conroe, Texas at the Montgomery County Extension Office, and will be organized by Harris County IPM Extension Agent, Dr. Paul Nester. Entomology Extension Specialist training was first offered in 2003 and has run most years since. The training is designed to provide an in-depth exposure to the world of insects. No, this doesn’t mean… Read More →
Losing a good friend
Pardon me for this personal note, but many of you from Texas who read this blog knew Dr. Jim McAfee, retired turfgrass specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife. Jim passed away Saturday morning, Jan 31, in Richardson, TX. Dr. McAfee was a great friend to many, and a great teacher and mentor for anyone interested in turfgrass and weed management. Jim retired in 2013, but his career spanned four decades of service to the Texas A&M University System. He also worked for TrueGreen/ChemLawn in both Texas and Georgia. If you… Read More →
Rutgers study shows best home treatments for bed bugs
Bed bugs are best treated by an experienced professional. Let me say that again… If you have bed bugs, and you can hire a professional who knows what they’re doing, then do it. It can save you much grief and lost sleep. Now that I’ve said that, let me address those who, for whatever reason, must fight bed bugs without professional help. If professional service is not in the cards for you right now, you have some options. First consider the approach outlined in my fact sheet on… Read More →
Possible impact of Emerald Ash Borer in Texas
Last summer the Arkansas Agriculture Department and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that emerald ash borer (EAB) had been discovered in five counties in southwest Arkansas, bringing this pest only one county away from Texas. Despite the fact that it feeds only on ash (trees in the genus Fraxinus), the EAB is considered to be the most destructive forest pest ever seen in north America. Because it is getting so close to Texas, I thought I would speculate a little about what impact EAB might… Read More →
