What’s more, this week’s intense heat and high humidity across the central and eastern USA is likely helping mosquitoes to breed, experts say, leading to what could be a banner late-summer for the outdoor pests. Higher temperatures, coupled with rain …
Pests in the NewsJuly 24, 2011
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Bedbugs were found in public schools three times as often last school year compared to the year before – and officials are preparing for even more of the pests when classes resume in the fall. Some 3,590 reports of bedbugs at city schools were confirmed by …
Pests in the NewsJuly 24, 2011
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Stink bugs and their cousins, the leaf footed bugs, are common pests on many fruits and vegetables in the Southeast. Gardeners most frequently notice these pests on tomatoes, where their feeding causes hard yellow spots to form just under the tomato skin …
Pests in the NewsJuly 24, 2011
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Cool spring eases walnut pest pressures
Western Farm Press Normally, he sees quite a few of the pests by the start of summer. He saw a few in the third week of June, including some parasitized by the small wasp, aphitus. “It's interesting that we had little or no walnut aphid activity up to that point,” Walker … |
Pests in the NewsJuly 24, 2011
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 ABC7Chicago.com |
Destructive beetle found in Indiana
Journal and Courier In a press release, Miles said the specialists intercept more than 500 pests per day. Indeed, farmers have more than just Khapra beetles to fear. Gibb said the Indian Meal Moth is another pest commonly found in grain elevators. … Customs Agents Intercept Dangerous Beetle at Airport93.1 WIBC Indianapolis Indianapolis officials discover destructive insectFox 59 CBP Intercepts Global Destroyer Khapra BeetleImperial Valley News The Republic –Indianapolis Star –WANE all 24 news articles » |
Pests in the NewsJuly 24, 2011
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Fungus used to battle hemlock tree pest
UPI.com BURLINGTON, Vt., July 21 (UPI) — Researchers in Vermont say they hope to use a fungus as a weapon against an insect pest currently decimating the state's hemlock trees. Scientists at the University of Vermont say the sap-sucking hemlock wooly adelgid … Cary winning battle with Hemlock pestNews & Observer |
Pests in the NewsJuly 24, 2011
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Salisbury Post |
High heat and humidity bringing pests out in full force
Salisbury Post Insects, diseases and other pests are beginning to show in force as the summer continues. Below are samples of questions that may be of interest. Question: My neighbor has peony plants that are being eaten by these hungry caterpillars (the neighbor … |
Pests in the NewsJuly 24, 2011
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QUESTION:
I’m having difficulty controlling spider mites. What do you recommend for treating these pests? I have tried Bifen IT and Sevin. I have not used a systemic yet.
ANSWER:
Spider mites can be challenging, and from back when I worked in horticultural pest management I was taught that carbaryl (Sevin) may not be a good choice for plant mites. This product is a weak miticide but very good at killing all other arthropods, including those that prey on spider mites. In fact, it is possible that using the wrong insecticide could even encourage the production of the mites by removing these other natural controls that were keeping their population down a bit.
Bifenthrin (Talstar, Bifen, MasterLine Bifenthrin) is supposed to be an excellent mite control material, so I would suspect that it is less the active ingredient that is causing you problems and more other factors. One is that these mites breed quickly, and repeat applications are necessary every week or so until the problem is resolved. The mite eggs are not likely to be killed by pesticides, other than horticultural oils that would smother the eggs if the application is very thorough, and even molting nymphs may be protected from typical insecticides within their old exoskeleton.
Another important factor is that spider mites will normally live and feed on the undersides of the leaves, making it much more difficult to contact them with standard contact insecticides such as bifenthrin. The spray application must be made so that the lower surfaces of all foliage are contacted evenly. This may be the advantage of systemics such as acephate (Orthene) where the active ingredient gets into the foliage and can be ingested by the feeding mites. Spider mites do feed in a similar manner as do aphids, by inserting their needle-like mouths into the cells of the plants to remove fluids, so a systemic material that is within these plant cells should be ingested. Even with systemics a thorough coverage is essential, and again, bifenthrin should be an effective material if the entire leaf surface is covered and repeat applications made as needed.
Spider mites also create a lot of fine webbing over the leaves, and this could become a physical barrier to your sprays. The use of a surfactant wetting agent will really help in breaking this barrier down and getting penetration to the leaf surface where it is needed. Also keep in mind the possible “soft” pesticides such as horticultural oils and soaps. These materials will be a greener, more natural approach to the problem if the customer prefers this, but they require very thorough coverage and would not be expected to leave any residual behind. They affect only what they land on during the application.
If the problem you are dealing with is on trees or larger shrubs you also can consider dormant oil applications during the late winter, treating the bark of the trunk and branches with the oil. Many horticultural pests overwinter in crevices on the bark or deposit eggs on the bark to overwinter, and the oil on top of them smothers them to prevent that new generation from coming out in such force the next spring.
Pest QuestionsJuly 24, 2011
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QUESTION:
Is there a pesticide that works against deer flies? The cabin, which is 70 or more yards from the lake, is where I need control.
Thanks.
ANSWER:
If it helps at all I can empathize with you. My wife is from Wisconsin, and while I dearly love the state and the beautiful hardwood forests in the northern half, I dearly hate the deer flies. Frankly, I don’t know how people can stand it outdoors during deer fly season without carrying the mandatory net that I do to catch and kill these nasty blood feeders. I swear I’ve killed over a thousand on any 1-week vacation back there, and one time caught over 20 in the net at one time when I walked out of the woods and they spotted me and decided I looked like I taste good. Only females feed on blood, and one of their main stimuli is motion, attracting their attention to a potential blood host.
The consensus of opinions from University resources continues to be that insecticide control of deer flies and horse flies is not a good option. You may be able to spray small areas around a home, such as foliage of trees and shrubs, and with a residual insecticide may kill some of the resting adult flies as they perch on this foliage. But, given the extended season when these flies are active and the wide areas of woods they occupy, these kinds of applications would have to be too extensive and too frequent to make good economical (and environmental) sense. The larvae develop in just about any wet situation, including in the mud at the bottom of ponds, lakes, and streams, but also in wet soils and wet buildup of organic materials, such as the thick layers of leaves on the ground in your forests. This makes it virtually impossible to control The Source of the problem, which is essential for effective fly management. If you cannot control the source then you are stuck with dealing with the adult flies.
Since pesticides are of little value what else is left? Well, repellents may have some effect, although my experience is that deer flies are not nearly as respectful of DEET repellents as are mosquitoes. But since deer flies attack primarily around the head and neck and upper arms the repellents could be applied there and reapplied frequently to keep them in place, and this will at least help. A person active outdoors can wear a net over the head, dropped down from a wide-brimmed hat to keep it off the skin, and this is very effective, along with long sleeves and long pants. There are some interesting deer fly traps that are patches that can be worn on the back of the hat, and these seem to attract the deer fly which then is stuck on the trap. There also are area traps of shiny sticky surfaces that seem to fool the flies into flying into them and getting stuck, and these will reduce the overall numbers of the flies.
What I am suggesting here is that YOUR role in deer fly management if probably more advisory than anything else. Using insecticides is going to be disappointing and probably result in an over-use of materials with little to show for it. Controlling the larvae is out of the question. It gets down to options that the customer needs to do for himself, with physical barriers, repellents, and traps to capture as many flies as possible.
Pest QuestionsJuly 23, 2011
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QUESTION:
I’ve recently moved from California to Texas and am now hearing about sugar ants. Never dealt with these in California. Can’t find any info as to what a sugar ant’s actual name is – carpenter, argentine, fire ant, etc? Can you please help with this? Also what are the best treatment methods for these ants in a residential kitchen?
Thank You
ANSWER:
I’ve always heard of and talked about “sugar” ants too, but always in general terms to mean ants that are fond of sweet substances. So, I went to that vast library in the sky – the Internet – to see what sense it could make of this and it pretty much confirmed my opinion. Sugar Ant seems to be simply a colloqualism for any ant that is attracted to sugary or sweet foods. On Wikipedia it even depicts a carpenter ant and calls it a sugar ant, another website refers to Argentine ants and other small black ants as sugar ants. While I am always open to being corrected, my opinion is that this is just a general name for many different species of ants that are drawn to carbohydrates (sugar), but in different geographic regions you may find the term more entrenched in the language.
With this in mind the proper control is exactly what you used to do for Argentine, Odorous House, Honey, and even carpenter ants back in California. Evaluate the account to determine what food resources the ants are finding inside and where possible eliminate these opportunities, determine where the ants may be entering the home and if possible permanently seal up the openings, trace the ants back to the nest opening itself and if possible treat directly into the nest with dust, aerosol, or mist. Since the ants are so fond of sugars we also can have excellent results using bait products containing carbohydrates, and for the small ants the liquid baits may be particularly attractive to them. If it turns out to be carpenter ants you can also have great success using granular baits applied near their foraging trails outside, although you may have to inspect at night to find them.
If these ants are in a residential kitchen then nearby wall voids could be dusted with a desiccant dust and a non-repellent residual material sprayed to selected areas where the ants are trailing. If you use baits encourage the customers to avoid spraying the ants they see for a few days to allow them to work at the bait. You could also apply the baits to locations that are a bit out of sight so the customer does not have to watch the little buggers feeding and trailing in what seems to be a happy event for them, but which hopefully is actually their last stand. Outside you can use a non-repellent that provides a good Transfer Effect, and we have several great products for this now. Since most colonies will be located outdoors, and the ants are only foraging inside, treating outside where you know the workers are traveling can be very effective.
Pest QuestionsJuly 22, 2011
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