Category Archives: Pests of landscapes
Little insect with a big name invades homes
If you’ve ever noticed nipple-like swellings on hackberry leaves, you already know a little about the hackberry nipplegall maker, Pachypsylla celtidismamma. Pachypsylla is a genus of tiny insects that grow up inside galls that form on hackberry leaves. Like other gall makers, Pachypsylla adults lay their eggs on leaves, which then start to swell around the egg or developing larva, forming a gall. After feeding on the gall tissue all summer, Pachypsylla adults emerge in the fall. Unfortunately for fastidious homemakers, these adults commonly enter structures at this time in their… Read More →
Emerald ash borer discovered in Kansas
As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, Texas has been conducting a survey for the past several years to look for the first signs of the highly destructive emerald ash borer. Although we have beetle samples from this summer currently being evaluated by USDA/APHIS, we have so far seen no sign of the beetle in Texas. The folks in Kansas, however, have not been so fortunate. The Kansas Department of Agriculture, working with the USDA, has just reported the first known case of EAB in the Kansas City,… Read More →
June beetles harmless to trees
This past week I’ve had several inquiries about large, green beetles hanging out around trees. These have all turned out to be the green June beetle, Cotinus nitida. The green June beetle is a large beetle (3/4 inch to 1 inch-long) related to the infamous June beetle or Junebug–the larval form of which is the white grub pest of lawns. Unlike it’s cousin, the green June beetle is mostly harmless in urban landscapes, unless you happen to own a fig or peach tree. Green June beetle larvae feed… Read More →
The Texas-sized cicada killer
One of the signs of summer in Texas, and throughout the eastern U.S., is the cicada killer. Over the past month or two you may have noticed dime-sized holes appearing in your yard or garden. While many insects (beetles and ants, for example) dig holes, few are so conspicuous as the cicada killer wasp, Sphecius speciosus. Cicada killer wasps are easy to spot due to their large size; they are typically 1-1/2 to two inches in length. The female cicada killer digs homes for her young in home… Read More →
West Nile Virus: Sooner than Later
The tiny buzz bombers are back. Mosquitoes are in full swing in Texas and are bringing the West Nile Virus with them. One of the first signs of the virus this year occurred in Plano, Texas (zip code 75074, northeast of the cross-section of SH-75 and President George Bush Turnpike). According to Scott Andrews of the City of Plano Environmental Health Department, “The confirmation came last Monday (June 19th) from samples we trapped and sent to the State Health Department. We sprayed the area for mosquitoes last Friday night… Read More →
Putting out the Unwelcome Mat for borers
Since early spring Dr. Charlie Helpert has tirelessly driven the country roads of north Texas, and knocking on doors in the area, in a effort to make Texas trees safer from insect attack. The enemy is the emerald ash borer, and the weapon is an early detection network of traps and volunteers trained to spot this foreign invader that threatens ash trees throughout the eastern U.S. I wrote about this project last year and so far the news has been good. No ash borer yet in Texas. But… Read More →
New(ish) enemy of Coreopsis
Some of you may be lovers of the spritely flower called Coreopsis. If so, bad news. A tiny leaf-feeding beetle with the tongue-twsting name of Phaedon desotonis has been showing up in occasional outbreaks around the state. I recorded one in Caddo Mills, TX (Hunt Co.) this month two years ago, and blogger Sheryl Smith Rogers reported (and photographed) an infestation last week in her backyard in Blanco Co. (west of Austin). Mike Quinn provides two more links to information on this native pest for those of you who would… Read More →
Grubs in the spring no big thing
As winter ends the good earth beckons. If you need proof, just listen this weekend. Like rattling sabers, you’ll hear gardeners everywhere dragging their spades, mattocks and hoes from storage. It’s an inevitable ritual of spring. Just as inevitably, many gardeners will gasp as their thoughts of seed packets are interrupted by the sight of glistening white grubs in the newly turned soil. White grubs are the immature life stage of the June beetle and its relatives. And as most Texas gardeners know, white grubs are not good. After… Read More →
Finally. A mild winter pest emerges?
Whenever there’s a slightly unusual weather pattern I can predict the calls. “So what’s the mild weather going to do to the pests?” “Did the cold snap in January kill all the bugs?” “Will all this rain mean more insects?” The truth is that most Texas insects are pretty well adapted to our coldest weather, and also darned difficult to predict. Sometimes entomologists will venture a guess for a reporter, and might even be right more often than not. I’ve learned, however, to be a little more circumspect in… Read More →