Category Archives: News
Kissing bug identification requires closer look
Because most of us take little time to look closely at insects, it should not be surprising that recent television stories about “kissing bugs” and Chagas disease have created a frenzy of sorts among people thinking they have captured or seen kissing bugs around the home. While a few of these have turned out to be actual kissing bugs (genus Triatoma), most are not; and laboratories set up to identify and test kissing bugs have been overwhelmed this month with samples. But not all insects vaguely resembling the pictures you… 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 →
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 →
Mosquito news release out today
Probably most of you don’t need to be told mosquitoes are bad right now and it has to do with rain. But Texas A&M AgriLife Extension just posted a news release on the subject that might shine some light on why, and what you can do. Check it out at http://today.agrilife.org/2015/05/28/texans-expect-mosquito-explosion/
Webinar on emerald ash borer available
If you live anywhere in east Texas and have an ash tree you love, you may want to check out this new webinar on emerald ash borer. The webinar reviews some history and background on the new invasive pest that is likely to enter Texas very soon. I was invited to present on this topic by Dr. Mengmeng Gu as part of her Spring Quick-Bite webinar series this week. So fair warning that you will be listening to me for 43 minutes. The webinar goes over some basic biology and how… Read More →
