Category Archives: News
Ticks and summertime
Everyone who agrees with this statement, raise your hands. “The world would be a better place without ticks!” Ha, just as I suspected! Everyone who has ever “gotten a tick” raised their hands. Everyone else has a blank look on their face. For the uninitiated, ticks are eight-legged arachnids more closely related to spiders than insects. While all tick species feed on blood, some feed on wild animals and rarely bite people. Other ticks readily hitch rides on, and bite humans. Ticks are most commonly encountered in fields or… Read More →
New infographic on biting and stinging pests
Every now and then we get the opportunity to get a little creative with a partner who shares some of our mission. This month our partner is the Methodist Health System, and MHS Publication Specialist, Sarah Cohen. Sarah posed a challenge to a few of us subject matter experts, and her creative team, to come up with an infographic that would help inform you about the different kinds of pests in Texas that bite, sting and sometimes infect us. Here’s the final product and a link to the… Read More →
Boozy beetle: the Camphor Shoot Borer
Every now and then entomologists get calls that border on the bizarre. Last week I received an email from a citizen in far east Texas. He was having problems with what he said were “insects boring into his riding lawn mower gas tank”. Of course my first reaction was that insects don’t eat plastic, nor do they drink gasoline. Why should they be boring into a gas tank? But the caller had photographic proof. Not only did he have pictures of the holes, he was able to pry about 15 of… Read More →
Bug blitz is a blast
Marking perhaps the beginning of insect season, last weekend the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA) held its first ever “bioblitz”. In case you’ve never heard of a bioblitz, it’s a concentrated effort among volunteers, naturalists and professional biologists to go to the field and document as many species as possible over a certain time period (usually a day). This year’s LLELA bioblitz included trees, reptiles, birds and insects. Our insect group consisted of myself and three other enthusiastic collectors/photographers (actually, mostly photographers–seems like only entomologists want to… Read More →
Planting to nurture nature
We all have more power than we might think. In a world where so many things seem out of control, anyone with a small plot of land, or even an apartment balcony with room for a few potted plants can make a small but significant difference in our environment. What we plant in our gardens can do more than just look pretty. By selecting the right plants we can sustain native pollinators and attract butterflies. We can create habitat for birds and reptiles and other small animals. Imagine a… Read More →
Lady beetle invasion
This year Extension offices are receiving an unusually high number of calls about lady beetles inside homes. The culprit is an exotic lady beetle called the multicolored Asian lady beetle (MALB). While not new, high aphid populations in some trees last year are thought to have contributed to this year’s higher than normal number of these “naughty lady beetles”. The multicolored Asian lady beetle is normally a helpful insect that eats aphids. Studies of the beetle in its native Asian habitats showed that it was such an… Read More →
Benefits of cockroach baits
You may not have cockroaches in your home. But cockroaches remain one of the most important indoor pests of homes, especially in multifamily housing. If you do have occasional problems with the small kitchen cockroaches, known as German cockroaches, there is good news, and it’s as close as the insecticide shelf in your grocery store. A story Before starting graduate school in entomology I worked as a pest control technician out of college. One of my accounts was a sprawling, multi-story public housing complex. These visits were frustrating… Read More →
My rabies story
[Note: This is not a story about insects, though it does relate to pest control. As an urban extension entomologist I get to train and work with pest control professionals. These good folks often find themselves called upon to handle and remove a variety of pests, including bats, raccoons and other urban wildlife that can be carriers of rabies. So the following post is adapted from one I recently wrote for the pest management industry, with possible relevance to the readers of this blog.] Last August I was out… Read More →
Simple experiments, like art, sometimes the most delightful
Have you ever been to a modern art exhibit and wondered how an artist could become famous for such a simple work as a colorful abstract, or a painting of Campbell Soup cans? I could have done that, we’re tempted to say. The point, however, is that we didn’t. The artist did, however; and now is laughing all his way to the bank. The same could be said about some of the most elegant scientific experiments. Once you hear of them, you think: “That idea was so simple; I could have… Read More →
Girding our loins for emerald ash borer
The emerald ash borer (EAB) that has devastated ash trees throughout the Ohio River valley and Great Lakes region has finally made its way to the Lone Star State. So far the beetle has been found in only one location in Harrison County, next to Caddo Lake; but over the next few years it will continue to spread. As it does, it will slowly change the face of our native forests as well as our urban tree landscape. To prepare for the inevitable changes, Holly Jarvis with Texas A&M… Read More →
