Author Archives: p-porter
Oak leaf itch mite confirmed in Oklahoma
In the latest issue of Pest Alerts from the Entomology Department at Oklahoma State University, entomologist Justin Talley reports finding evidence of a biting pest that has not been seen in Oklahoma or Texas for over ten years. The oak leaf itch mite, Pyemotes herfsi, is cousin to the straw itch mite–a predatory mite often associated with stored grain and stored grain insects, and known to bite people who come in contact with infested grain. It was first reported in the U.S. from Kansas in 2004, a year… Read More →
Recognizing emerald ash borer damage
This summer my assistant spent the better part of her summer hanging and checking over 100 purple sticky traps to determine whether Texas has been invaded yet by the dreaded emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis. The beetle has already been detected in neighboring states of Arkansas and Louisiana; but much to our relief, after thousands of miles of winding county roads and many hundreds of traps, neither she nor our colleagues in the Texas Forest Service or Sam Houston State University found a single EAB. However, this beetle is elusive. And… Read More →
Sharing the Million Pollinator Challenge
This week I had the opportunity to attend the First National Conference on Protecting Pollinators in Ornamental Landscapes. The meeting took place outside of scenic Asheville, NC and drew entomologists, industry personnel and extension educators from all over the country. I thought I would use this post to help me digest some of the things I learned, and pose my readers a challenge. First of all, it was nice to get the chance to interact with folks on both sides of the bee wars–that culture/science clash between the green community… Read More →
Bagworms in the fall
You’ve been watching your arborvitae all summer and noticing brown, spindle-shaped sacs hanging from the branches. Someone points out to you that these are bagworms, a case-making caterpillar that feeds on leaves and can be highly damaging, especially to evergreen trees and shrubs like arborvitae and cedar. Now it’s late September, what do you do? Before I answer that question, it’s worth pointing out that bagworms are interesting insects with a decidedly non-traditional life cycle. Bagworms are not really worms, but caterpillars, the immature stages of a nondescript moth. They… Read More →
Hackberry defoliator in north Dallas area
Over the past few weeks I’ve had several emails concerning a small caterpillar infesting hackberry in the Flowermound and Grapevine, TX area especially. After some initial head scratching over fuzzy pictures sent via email, my lab employees went caterpillar hunting yesterday and brought back a good haul of larvae feeding on sugarberry trees, Celtis laevigata. After sending pictures to colleagues, James McDermott of College Station identified the critters as Sciota celtidella, an obscure moth that has been recorded feeding on hackberry, Celtis occidentalis (Alma Solis, Bull. Biolog. Soc. of WA May… Read More →
New-bee volunteers
A new resource was birthed this spring with the first graduating class of apprentice Master Beekeepers. In March the Texas Master Beekeeper program graduated its first class of 68 volunteers specializing in bee culture and protection. Like its cousins, the Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programs, the Master Beekeeper program is intended to nurture trained volunteers to assist with public service and educational programs. But the Master Beekeepers will work on projects primarily related to honey bees. With this first class Texas joins Florida, Georgia, Oregon and other Master Beekeeping… Read More →
Tougher head lice in schools this year
Sending your children off to the first day of school comes with plenty of concerns. Will they enjoy their new teachers? Will they make good friends? But one concern often overlooked in the rush of the new school year is head lice. Now the last thing anyone should stress over when it comes to schools is head lice. But with a new school year, reports of head lice always go up. And according to a new paper delivered at the American Chemical Society and reported this week in Smithsonian.com, this year’s… Read More →
Mosquito threat highest Now
In 2012 Dallas was the national epicenter of a West Nile epidemic. A mild winter and very hot summer combined to make conditions that resulted in approximately 400 reported cases and 19 deaths in Dallas county alone. While 2015 has not approached the mosquito numbers or disease transmission potential of 2012, this year’s data suggests that risk for getting a WNV infection from a mosquito is peaking higher than any time since then. Traditionally the potential for WNV transmission peaks in August and this year looks like no… Read More →
Spiders Gone Wild in Rowlett
Rowlett, Texas is a relatively quiet suburb of big neighbor, Dallas. Driving along the city’s CA Roan Drive, a quiet stretch of road running through Lakeside Park South, you can feel a long way from the big city. But cyclists and drivers along that route this week may have noticed the trees looking a little shiny, and maybe just a little creepy. Along a football field length stretch of the drive, the spiders are taking over. Glistening webs are draping the trees like shrouds at Lakeside Park, a stone’s throw away from the… Read More →
Your chance to hear REAL cicadas
Texans are no strangers to cicadas. One writer in 1933 proclaimed east Texas “a veritable cicada paradise,” before going on to list all the different species he had encountered here. Indeed, you would have to be hard of hearing, or very unobservant, not to notice the buzzing sounds of annual cicadas coming from nearly every summertime tree between June and August. Even if the annual singing of cicadas is not your cup of tea, you have to marvel at the once every seventeen year emergence of the periodical cicadas. Sometimes deafening, the periodic… Read More →