Category Archives: News
Carabid beetles common in some areas
The past week has brought in several calls about swarming beetles, which appear to be Carabid beetles of the genus Harpalus. Ground beetles are fast moving, predatory beetles that, as the name implies, forage on the ground. Outdoors they and their likewise predaceous larvae are found on the ground in all habitats, both grassy and forested areas. Ground beetles have little interest in coming indoors, where there is little food. However they may accidentally enter homes when they slip under doors while trying to escape from daylight. Outdoors they… Read More →
Mosquito and bed bug webinars
If you’ve never participated in a webinar (seminar on the Web), two good opportunities are coming up shortly. This Friday, June 7, the Don’t Bug Me Webinar Series is hosting Dr. Dini Miller to explain how to get rid of bed bugs. Dini, an entomology professor at Virginia Tech University, is one of the top field researchers with bed bugs. She’s always entertaining, so this opportunity is not to be missed if you have an interest in bed bugs. If you miss the program, the Webinar Series homepage… Read More →
New pest of lilies in Texas
While on a garden tour in Tyler, TX this week, Smith County Horticulture Agent Keith Hansen was alerted to a new pest of lilies in town. Some visiting Louisiana scientists pointed out signs of the daylily leafminer, Ophiomyia kwansonis, on daylilies in the Tyler Rose Garden. This new invasive leafminer fly was first confirmed in 2011 from Apopka, Florida during a nursery inspection, though daylily growers and collectors were aware of unusual leafminer damage since at least 2008, and the first possible picture of it was reported from… Read More →
Honey bees at center of controversy
What could present a more peaceful, bucolic image than the scene of beekeepers tending their bee hives? Beekeepers are traditionally seen as the gentlest of agriculturalists, not killing for food but merely reaping the labor of an industrious insect in exchange for nurture and protection. Yet there is little peaceful about the verbal and political battle swirling about beekeepers and honey bees at the moment. You may have seen the headlines in recent years proclaiming the doom of the honey bee. The domestic bee industry in the U.S…. Read More →
Pollinator Garden to open in Lewisville
Got the gardening blahs? Need some fresh inspiration? Consider a visit to the new pollinator garden at the Lake Lewisville Environmental Learning Area (LLELA). This Saturday will be the grand opening, beginning at 9:30 am. I will be one of the speakers, sharing what I know about insect pollinators. But Ken Stiegman, LLELA director will also be there giving a butterfly walk and Rosemary Carrizales, volunteer coordinator for the garden will answer questions about planting your own pollinator garden. The garden, of course, is open all the time,… Read More →
Monarch tracking by cell phone
By all accounts, this is not turning out to be a great year for monarch butterflies. The NY Times reports the smallest overwintering populations in Mexico in at least two decades, and the cold spring weather is not helping matters. An interesting animated map is available through the group Journey North showing how this year’s migration compares to the last few years’ migrations. This kind of data is made possible through ordinary people with cell phone apps that allow anyone to report a monarch butterfly sighting. GPS based… Read More →
Good grooming makes good pest control
Thanks to Wizzie Brown for alerting me to the recent, very cool video on cockroaches by NPR’s Science Friday. Like cats that lick their feet and fur, cockroaches continually groom their feet and antennae. I’ve watched cockroaches groom themselves, but never in magnified HD with a lucid narration by North Carolina State University entomologist Coby Schal. Dr. Schal reports on recent research by his laboratory to answer the question about why cockroaches groom, and he’s well worth listening to. One thing the video does not mention is that… Read More →
Mosquitoes to make first showing of 2013
Spring rains and warmer weather usually spell mosquitoes. To prove this to myself, I’ve been watching my backyard fountain slowly fill with recent rains, leaves and catkins from nearby oak trees. Last week I was rewarded(!?) with my first mosquito wigglers. “Wiggler” and “tumbler” are informal terms for the larval and pupal (immature) life stages of mosquitoes. Mosquito wigglers live in water, and as soon as temperatures get warm enough to drive their development, they quickly mature and emerge from pools and containers wherever they may be found…. Read More →
Bill signals new interest in mosquitoes
After last summer’s West Nile virus epidemic in north Texas there is a heightened awareness of mosquitoes and mosquito issues around the state. Last week the Texas Senate gave thumbs up (28-3 vote) on a measure (SB 186) introduced by Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas) that would give municipal health officials authority to enter empty or abandoned properties to treat mosquito breeding sites that pose a public health nuisance. The idea behind this bill is that abandoned homes, most notably those with untended, “green” swimming pools, can be a… Read More →
Kids love bugs
I usually start my Master Gardener entomology training classes with the same question: “How many of you have dreaded insect training because you hate bugs?” Inevitably, a few honest people will raise their hands. It seems that there is little love to lose between many adults and insects. On the other hand, unless kids have been pre-programmed by adults, they’re just as likely to be fascinated, as they are to be repelled, by bugs. That’s what I thought about as I read the report from the Entomological Society… Read More →
