Category Archives: Pests of landscapes
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 →
New information on rose rosette
Last July I posted a story about rose rosette disease, which seemed to be on the rise during the summer. A recent update to the scientific understanding has been posted by Oklahoma State University that supports the theory that RR is a virus-caused disease and preserves the notion that eriophyiid mites may be a prime force behind disease spread. I’m not enough of a virologist to judge the strength of the research, but the story provides a little bit of insight into how scientific knowledge advances. New knowledge… Read More →
Protect your trees from borers, water!
This summer’s high temperatures and drought have been tough on trees. As a result, many of us will experience increased problems with tree-infesting insects like borers and possibly scales. While insects don’t always need a devastating drought as an excuse for attacking a tree, stresses like drought increase the risk of subsequent pest damage. For this reason, this recent video from the Texas Forest Service is especially timely, and a good reminder to take care of your trees before you notice an insect problem. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciEjYvwwQZs[/youtube] Before you water… Read More →
Baaaad boy! Bad snails.
Seems like every month brings a new horror story in the land of exotic pests. This one is fascinating and illustrates how a seemingly innocuous action like bringing some soil, seeds, plants or other critter home from vacation can have unforeseen and disastrous consequences. Giant African land snails have been found for the second time in the Miami, Florida area. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Science, the last time this happened was in 1966 when a boy smuggled a few snails into Miami as pets. After… Read More →
Aquatic aphids
One of the things I love about my job is that there’s always something new to learn. And one of the things I appreciate about the Insects in the City News Updates is that it gives me someone to share the things I learn with. My discovery this week is aquatic aphids. Most long-time gardeners know that aphids are pretty adaptable. Tiny sap-feeders, sometimes erroneously called plant lice, aphids are one of the most common pests of flowers, trees and vegetable gardens. Normally found on stems and leaves,… Read More →
Rose rosette disease transmitted by a mite
This weekend I regretfully cut down two rose bushes on the side of my home. Within a relatively short period of time they had begun to show symptoms of rose rosette, a fatal virus disease of roses. I had never heard of rose rosette until a recent sample arrived from the Denton County Extension office. Horticulture agent Janet Laminack wanted to know if the sample was rose rosette. The symptoms seen on these rose cuttings, I learned, were classic: excessive thorn production, leaf distortion and excessive branch development,… Read More →
Ash borer destroys, Texas deploys
A story in Time magazine last month covered the toll being exacted on American urban forests by the emerald ash borer, the latest in a string of illegal immigrant destructive insects. According to the story, the toll of dead trees will likely surpass those felled by Dutch elm disease by the end of this year, making it the most destructive forest insect ever to invade North America. So what is the threat to Texas forests? Probably not as great as that being experienced in the east-central states where… Read More →
The Mother bug
Sehirus cinctus (see HERE us SINK tuss) is usually an obscure little bug, bothering nobody and noticed by few humans. The past week, however, I’ve received several inquiries about thousands of little black “beetles” (actually bugs) crawling over lawns, driveways and even dogs. Also known as the white-margined burrowing bug, Sehirus cinctus is an example of one of those insects that can go along for years unnoticed, then all of a sudden, BOOM. They’re everywhere. Sehirus is particularly interesting for its behavior. The adults and nymphs feed on… Read More →
Sawfly alert
Pine sawflies resemble caterpillars, but have six or more fleshy prolegs, or “clasping legs” on their abdomen. True caterpillars have five or less clasping legs. I just had a report from urban forester Pam Corder in Kaufman, TX. She reports an outbreak of sawfly caterpillars on pine trees in Kaufman County. Two years ago there was another outbreak of sawflies in Kaufman and several other counties just east of the Dallas area. That outbreak was identified as Neodiprion taedae linearis, also known as the loblolly pine sawfly. Those… Read More →
When are June beetles… not?
One of the April-flying species of scarab beetle. This specimen is Phyllophaga hirtiventris, a cousin to the turf-eating June beetle. I’ve been getting questions about the numerous June beetles attracted to lights this spring. Callers are wondering if the June beetles are coming earlier this year. Is this another sign of global warming? You can relax on this one. The clunky, loud beetles bumping against your screen windows aren’t another sign of large-scale climate change. These are the “early-bird” scarab beetles. We could call them “April” or “May”beetles,… Read More →
