Late blight came in with a vengeance last summer. It caused severe tomato and potato losses, hitting home gardeners and organic farmers and larger commercial growers.

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Howard Russell...Autumn is the time of year when we humbly and gratefully thank our lucky stars for surviving, though possibly not unscathed, the summer onslaught of biting insects, stinging insects and other annoying arthropods. However, we are not out of the woods yet: there could be large numbers of insects out there waiting to invade our homes and businesses. I say “could be” because we won’t know that for sure until we get the first few frosts of the season.

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Willie Kirk...After visiting several smaller acreage tomato growers in western Mecosta County, it became clear that the 2009 epidemic of late blight was extraordinary. All fields visited had late blight. The symptoms ranged from about five percent of the foliage and one percent of the fruits to 100 percent of the foliage and fruits infected. Clearly, this epidemic was beyond the experience of any of these growers who were largely stunned and certainly one of the worst I had ever experienced.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Andrea Buchholz...MSU’s Gardening in Michigan web site has hit the ground running this summer with helpful instructions for the beginner gardener. The site launched just in time to support the renewed interest in gardening. According to Burpee Seeds, 20 percent more households are growing vegetables, fruit and herbs this year compared to last. This means the United States gained about seven million new gardeners in 2009.

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Dave Smitley...Many people in the southeast Michigan are very happy about the reduced numbers of Japanese beetles that they have seen this summer. Some have called and asked if it is because of our biological control program with the protozoan pathogen, Ovavesicula popilliae. Although Ovavesicula has established well, it is still too early in most of Southeast Michigan to cause a sudden decline of Japanese beetles.

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Howard Russell...Two weeks ago I was talking to Jeanne Himmelein, MSU Extension Kalamazoo County, and the topic of declining maple trees came up. She said the city was cutting another dead one down that week. I asked her if it might be all right for me to come and watch the tree being cut down, inspect the cut up tree parts and collect some samples to possibly determine the cause of death. She said she would have to check it out.

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By Dave Smitley...

Question 1: Lawn split
Reader: Here are the pictures of my lawn showing the split in the grass. It is quite deep and on an angle and as you can see the grass can be peeled right back. I have never seen anything like this. Hopefully, you could have someone look at these that may have some ideas about this.

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By Howard Russell... Many people have responded to the worldwide hops shortage by planting hops in their backyard gardens. As one who enjoys the end product of hops, I certainly applaud and support those who have answered this call to duty.

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By Howard Russell... I will readily admit to enjoying people’s explanations of their first encounters with certain entomological phenomenon. Exceptionally large insects and exceptionally large numbers of insects often invoke rather imaginative reasoning as to the origin or cause of the phenomenon.

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By Howard Russell... One side benefit of flower gardens is the pretty bugs they attract. One such pretty bug that people call the lab to inquire about is the hummingbird clearwing moth, Hemaris thysbe  (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). These pretty little moths sip nectar from flowers and look and behave like tiny hummingbirds.

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By Howard Russell... Paul Wylie, CED in Allegan County, sent me some nice photos of some large bark lice (Order: Psocoptera) he observed crawling about on a tree. Paul, whose entomological skills go way beyond modest, identified the bugs as tree cattle, Cerastipsocus venosus.

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By Howard Russell... Several people have sent in strawberry root weevils they found crawling about their floors, walls, and even ceilings. This small, dark brown beetle is one of several insects that invade homes in late summer for no other reason than because they can. In some cases, their numbers can be enormous.

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By Howard Russell... August is a great time of the year for those of us who grow vegetables in backyard gardens. Our hard work during the spring and early summer is paying off with fresh cucumbers, basil, parsley, summer squash and if our nights ever warm up, tasty tomatoes.

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By Howard Russell... As a follow up to Dave Smitley and Gerry Adam’s articles about the widespread die back of maple trees, this article offers a brief introduction to ambrosia beetles. Ambrosia beetles are closely related to bark beetles.

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By Michael Kaufman...Although substantial rains have subsided in the past few weeks, mosquito populations are still reaping the benefits from wet spring and early summer periods. I’d considered last year one of the worst in my locale in the past decade, but this year has probably equaled that. Why is this so, what can you do about it, and what might it mean for mosquito-borne disease risks?

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By Fred Warner...Often during the late spring and summer, we receive samples of worms people have collected from their swimming pools. These worms measure up to 14 inches in length and are usually tan to dark brown in color. Their occurrence obviously concerns people.

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By Howard Russell... So far the summer of 2009 has brought outbreaks of eastern tent caterpillar, forest tent caterpillar, gypsy moth caterpillars and lecanium scales. Aphids are now vying for their spot on the list. I’ve received several calls from folks who are seeing large numbers of aphids in their yards and gardens.

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By Howard Russell... Jerry Lindquist, Extension Educator in Osceola County, sent me a very nice female whitespotted pine sawyer, Monochamus scutellatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Pine sawyers are among our most spectacular beetles.

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By Howard Russell... Jill O’Donnell reported near defoliation of some willow trees in Wexford County this past week. The responsible party was the willow flea weevil, Rhynchaenus sp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). This tiny little beetle chews small holes in the leaves while the larval stages feed inside leaves as a leafminer.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Jennie Stanger... “Several friends and I are confused and bewildered by our gardens this year. I have a rose bush that's well established and has always been pink. It's a J & P rose although the tag has long since disappeared.

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By Howard Russell... We received a sample of bird mites from a gentleman from Onondaga (Jackson County) who collected the specimens from his bed (gross!). Bird mites commonly feed on chickens and other poultry, but they also parasitize wild birds.

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By Howard Russell... Terrie Williams, MSU Extension educator, sent me some strange fly larvae that a client kept finding in or by her toilet in her RV. I identified the larvae as soldier fly larvae (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). In nature, these larvae can be found in a diverse array of situations mostly in wetlands and damp places in soil, sod, under bark, and in animal excrement and decaying organic matter. I’m pretty sure these were living in the RV's septic tank (way gross!).

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By Howard Russell... A very distraught lady came to the lab today with one of her favorite perennials in hand. The leaves were covered with small circular black lesions that look like some kind of disease symptom. Sitting on one of the stems of her plant was the culprit, a fourlined plant bug nymph, Poecilocapsus lineatus (Hemiptera: Miridae). The fourlined plant bug has been recorded feeding on 250 plant species, most of which are herbaceous plants.

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By Howard Russell... Two clients from East Lansing brought in caterpillar samples they had collected from their shade trees. One said he had thousands of them crawling about on his driveway and they were creating a webby mess is his yard. I identified these caterpillars as fall cankerworms, an occasional pest of several types of broadleaf trees that can show up in very large numbers in some years.

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By Howard Russell... The Elm flea weevil, Orchestes alni (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), was discovered in Michigan only last year but it seems they are eating the developing leaves of every Asian-type elm I’ve looked at this spring. This beetle was first discovered in the Midwest in 2003 where it has been found in Ohio and Wisconsin.

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By Art Cameron... Come and recycle your old plastic flower pots, tree and shrub containers, plastic trays and labels. We encourage home gardeners and landscape professionals to clean out your garages, garden sheds or barns and bring as many old flower pots and plastic trays, even plastic buckets that you can find!

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By Art Cameron... Come and recycle your old plastic flower pots, tree and shrub containers, plastic trays and labels. We encourage home gardeners and landscape professionals to clean out your garages, garden sheds or barns and bring as many old flower pots and plastic trays, even plastic buckets that you can find!

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By Howard Russell and Jan Byrne... Jan received a sample this past week from a grower who wanted her to identify the white fungus that was growing on the roots of some container grown asters. When she mounted some of the “fungus” on a slide to study it, she found small yellowish insects amongst her strands of fungus.

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MSU Extension has launched a new web site of its gardening resources at: http://migarden.msu.edu/. The web site covers many aspects of gardening and is beginning with a focus on vegetable gardening.

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By Howard Russell... Pine needle scale belongs to the family Diaspididae, which are commonly known as armored scales. Other common armored scales are oystershell scale and euonymus scale.

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By Rebecca Finneran... With the recent winter “thaw,” gardeners are exuberantly turning pages in their magazines and garden catalogs while planning for spring. Some types of gardening (like planting a vegetable garden) reap immediate rewards, while other types require strategy and months of planning.

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By Duke Elsner... Spring was well underway throughout Michigan by the middle of May in 2008. Numerous species of woody and herbaceous plants were leafing out or starting to bloom and the insect world was lining up for their meals of leaves or nectar.

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By Thomas Dudek... This new MSU Extension publication written by Dr. C.H. Schilling at Saginaw Valley State University, and Mark Seamon, Thomas Dudek and Stephen Harsh from Michigan State University, is a detailed 24-page publication written by experts in the field of biomass fuels as alternative heat sources.

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Howard Russell...Autumn is the time of year when we humbly and gratefully thank our lucky stars for surviving, though possibly not unscathed, the summer onslaught of biting insects, stinging insects and other annoying arthropods. However, we are not out the woods yet. There could be a large numbers of insects out there waiting to invade our homes and businesses. I say “could be” because we won’t know that for sure until we get the first few frosts of the season.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Howard Russell...An unusual insect that was running around on tree trunks caught the eye of several folks last week.  Norm Myers, MSUE Oceana and Wendy Marek, MSUE Mason sent me photographs of these small insects that were brought into their respective county offices.  These rather bizarre bugs are large barklice, commonly known as tree cattle, Cerastipsocus venosus (Psocoptera: Psocidae).

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Howard Russell...Several people in this past week sent in photographs they took of pretty little moths as they sipped nectar from flowers. The hummingbird clearwing moth, Hemaris thysbe (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) occurs from Alaska through central and eastern North America in open areas with shrubs, young trees and gardens.

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Howard Russell and Duke Elsner...Up until a few years ago, this small European species of cockroach was only known to occur in the United States in Massachusetts and southeast Michigan.  Then Duke Elsner found it in Grand Traverse County and according to the Dukester, it has been expanding its range in and around the Traverse City area ever since.  The spotted Mediterranean cockroach, Ectobius pallidus (Blattellidae) was first discovered in the United States in 1948 on Cape Cod.

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Howard Russell...Two people sent me photos of Megarhyssa wasps this week. One came from Jon Stauffer in Clinton County and the other from Cathy Patterson in Tuscola County.

The long-tailed Megarhyssa wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) are the largest ichneumons in Michigan. These impressive wasps frequently attract people’s attention because of their size and long tail-like ovipositor that is as long as or even longer than the body.

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Howard Russell...The strawberry root weevils, Otiorhynchus ovatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are harmless beetles that become a household nuisance when they invade homes during the summer months. In some cases their numbers can be enormous. The weevil is about a quarter of an inch long and dark brown in color. The abdomen is quite rounded, and when viewed in profile the weevil’s short snout can be easily seen. The larvae feed on small roots of wild and cultivated strawberries, brambles and some ornamental plants.

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Michael Kaufman...Although the lack of continued substantial rains in the past few weeks has tempered mosquito populations, it has already been a noticeably bad year for the hosts of these blood-feeding insects. In my locale, it has easily been the worst mosquito “season” in the past decade. Why is this so, what can you do about it, and what might it mean for mosquito-borne disease risks?

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Howard Russell...For those keeping track...

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Howard Russell...A gentleman from Lansing brought in the year’s first cicada killers this week. These impressive wasps had dug several burrows in his yard before he sprayed them.

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Howard Russell...That’s the question that two reporters from the northern Lower Peninsula asked me this week. Apparently, many people in this area of the state are finding this spider around their homes and several reported finding many of them. I have never thought of spiders as having outbreaks, like the armyworms discussed above. I can’t imagine what the reaction of people, who are prone to arachnophobia anyway, would be if armies of black widow spiders were seen marching across the countryside destroying everything in their path. Outbreak is a relative term that depends on the perceived threat of the bug. Maybe finding a dozen or so widow spiders in one’s yard is the functional equivalent, outbreak-wise, of having a million or so armyworms devouring your cornfield.

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Howard Russell and Christina DiFonzo...Hungry hordes of armyworms are eating their way through corn and alfalfa fields in the northwest Lower Peninsula. Counties reporting problems are Benzie, Manistee, Mason, Missaukee and Osceola, but other places are likely infested. Fields with poor weed control, as well as edges of corn fields near ditch banks, fences, or neighboring pastures and legume/grass stands are most at risk.

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Steven Gower...Several tomato samples have been submitted to the lab over the past ten days with symptoms consistent with glyphosate injury. In most of these cases, the injury resulted from glyphosate spray drift likely from neighboring corn and soybean fields. Occasionally, the injury resulted from glyphosate contamination in the tank used to apply pesticides to the tomatoes.

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Rebecca Finneran...I’m not sure if I have ever tried to pick a peck of pickled peppers, but I’ll bet Peter Piper never even heard of an “ornamental” pepper. If he could pick some now, there would be more than a peck of cultivars to choose from!

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Rebecca Finneran...I’m not sure if I have ever tried to pick a peck of pickled peppers, but I’ll bet Peter Piper never even heard of an “ornamental” pepper. If he could pick some now, there would be more than a peck of cultivars to choose from!

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Howard Russell...

Howard Russell...We received a small sample of ‘Blue Star’ juniper that was loaded (possibly a lab record) with Juniper scale, Carulaspis juniperi. There were crawlers walking about all over the needles. Now is time to apply insecticide sprays aimed at the crawler stage.

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Howard Russell...This bug continues its rampage. We had a client come in this week with leaves from at least six different perennials from her yard that had been completely creamed by this pest.

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Steven Gower...
Editor’s note: The identification information is from the new field guide An IPM Pocket Guide for Weed Identification in Christmas Trees. For ordering information, call 517-353-6740 or visit: http://www.ipm.msu.edu/pdf/pocketGuidesLandsc07.pdf .

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Andrea Buchholz...Our newest challenge idea comes from Duke Elsner, Grand Traverse County MSUE educator. He submitted a photo demonstrating some horrendous weed-whacker damage.

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Elizabeth Wahle...
Editor’s note: With the recent frost event, this article from the University of Illinois Extension is timely. This article was originally published on April 14, 2007.

"Rhubarb should not be harvested when the leaves are wilted and limp after a hard freeze," warns Elizabeth Wahle, University of Illinois Extension horticulture specialist. "Not only do the leafstalks acquire a poor flavor and texture, but the leaves and eventually the stem may become toxic."

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Howard Russell...Last week, we received two different samples comprised of only a half dozen or so cut off terminal ends of a blue spruce branch. Each 3 to 4-inch branch end had been neatly pruned from the tree. The tree owners had found piles of these cut-off ends on the ground around the base of their trees. They sent some to us hoping for some answers.

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Howard Russell...It won’t be long before boxelder bugs, cluster flies, Asian lady beetles, pine seed bugs and a few others of our six-legged friends will begin to congregate on the sides of our homes. More often than not, they choose the sides that are warmed by the afternoon sun. As it gets colder, these bugs will attempt to find a way in though cracks, crevices of other points of entry in order to find a comfy place to spend the winter.

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Howard Russell...It’s always flattering to hear from readers. In the September 7 Landscape CAT Alert issue, I wrote about fruit flies, and admittedly, I was a bit cavalier in my remarks. Two readers wrote to tell me that there is an easy solution to fruit flies and I want to share with you their insights (and my failings).

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Howard Russell...Fall is also the time of the year for fruit flies, those tiny little guys with the bright red eyes. Flies of all kinds peak in numbers during late summer because there is lots of decaying fruit and other organic material out there this time of year. This is especially true for anyone with a vegetable garden or backyard orchard. Fruit flies love fermenting fruits and are attracted to any sweet liquid be it fruit or vegetable juice, soda and beer left in the bottom of the can, or something thrown into the garbage can.

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Howard Russell...Several people have sent in specimens of winged yard ants during the past week. Swarmers (often called allates) of several species of yard ants take flight during this time of year, often in mind-numbing numbers. Yard ants are related to carpenter ants but rather than living in rotted wood, they nest in the ground.

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Howard Russell...Over the Labor Day weekend, southern Michigan experienced a large hatch of small aggressive mosquitoes and boy, do they bite! Dr. Ned Walker, MSU Mosquito Guy, told me they were Aedes trivittatus, a floodwater mosquito that was brought about by our recent rains. These pesky little buggers are characterized by their small size and by the presence of two white stripes running down the top of the thorax.

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Howard Russell...I am happy to report that no one has called me about cicada killers in the past two weeks.  However, other types of wasps have moved center stage to take their place.  Ground nesting yellow jackets and bald faced hornets seem to be all rage these days.  I discovered a nest of eastern yellow jackets at the base of my son’s basketball hoop a week or so ago.  Since their nest was located near where I park my truck and their mood tends to sour in late summer, I decided to kill off the nest.  I chose Seven Garden Dust as my weapon of choice.

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Howard Russell...I believe the lab has received more cicada killer calls this year than in the previous five, possibly ten years combined. And they appear to be getting bigger. Several people who have called this past week described a giant wasp digging in their yards to be over three inches in length. This may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but I think the point is that these guys are really big and really scary wasps.

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Howard Russell...Pretty much every summer about this time, I get calls from folks who are very excited to report something they are seeing in the gardens that looks and behaves much like a hummingbird, except it can’t be a hummingbird because it has two antennae. Two species of sphinx moths known as the hummingbird clearwing, Hemaris thysbe and the snowberry clearwing, H. diffinis feed on nectar during the day much like a humming bird does. Both species occur throughout the eastern United States and are common in open woodlands, fields and gardens in Michigan.

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Howard Russell...With all the excitement surrounding the recent find of a single European woodwasp, Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) in a trap in Macomb County, I think a little lesson in woodwasp identification may be in order. 

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Howard Russell...I was so impressed with the spider mite injury on the burning bush sample we got in that I almost overlooked its severe infestation of oystershell scale. The scales were so bad on some twigs that the scale took to colonizing the midveins of some of the leaves (see photos). The Oystershell scale, Lepidosaphes ulmi (Homoptera: Diaspididae) is oyster-shaped, gray, and 0.125 of an inch long. They commonly occur on twigs and limbs of apple, lilac, maple, willow, beech, ash and some other 140 or so hosts. Heavily infested parts are killed.

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Howard Russell...We are getting lots of plant samples that show very high numbers of spider mites and severe spider mite feeding injury. We’ve seen spider mite injury on Viburnum, Astilbe, Rose, Amelanchier, Burning bush, soybeans, spruce and hemlock in the last week alone. Some samples have shown the beginning stages of injury while others show advanced stages where there is very little green tissue left on the leaves.

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Howard Russell...With our spring mosquitoes on the decline, now may be a good time to write about controlling ticks and fleas in home yards. Both of these blood sucking parasites can be a nuisance in yards and several people have asked about using insecticides to reduce their numbers. Sprays containing carbaryl (sold as Sevin) or permethrin will kill both fleas and ticks. Permethrin has the added advantage of acting as a repellent. Before treating a yard with either of these products, all kid and dog toys should be collected and removed from the yard as a safety precaution.

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Howard Russell...I received several phone calls this week about gigantic wasps that folks were finding digging holes in their lawns. Terry McLean at the Genesee MSUE office sent me three specimens (see photo) that a local pest control guy thought might be some kind of exotic species. These spectacular insects are known commonly as “cicada killers” and scientifically as Sphecius speciosus (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). They are the largest wasp that occurs in Michigan.

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Willie Kirk...Reliance solely on fungicides, bactericides or viricides for control of pathogens often results in unforeseen problems such as build up of chemical-tolerant or resistant races of the pathogen and displacement of one pathogen by another. Often expectations for the efficacy of chemicals are too high. Chemicals should therefore be used with caution and lowered expectations. Once a disease has appeared on a plant it is difficult to eradicate. To get the best from chemicals, they should be applied as part of an integrated disease management strategy.

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Jennie Stanger...Late on June 25, Paul Marks and Jennie Stanger visited a home gardener who felt his cucumbers were showing the same symptoms as last year when an unprecedented outbreak of downy mildew swept across the county in midsummer, killing nearly all home garden cucumber plants and many farm field plantings within several days. Unfortunately, he was correct and this may be the first confirmed outbreak in Michigan for 2007. It is not always fun to be first, and we will not identify the gardener even though he deserves credit for recognizing the symptoms and alerting MSU Extension so we can inform others.

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Howard Russell...Several people have called complaining about deer flies and mosquitoes this past week. I don’t have anything new to tell them about warding off their attacks. DEET-based repellents still work for mosquitoes, but deer flies are a different matter. The ones that are chasing me around at home belong to the genus Chrysops, the true deer flies (see photos). The following is a rerun of an article I wrote a few years back.

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Howard Russell...
Watch out for Japanese beetles
Japanese beetles emerged last week and are busy devouring our favorite trees and shrubs. Some of those who have called the lab have asked about the need to spray their yards to prevent Japanese beetle damage.

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Howard Russell...A family from Chelsea sent in some very nice flies that were swarming twelve inches off the ground in their yard. The kids even sent in drawings with the specimens. These flies are some bizarre, poorly known species of a family of flies known as dance flies (family Empididae). Empidids are predaceous flies that are known to eat mosquitoes, black flies and other empidids.

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Howard Russell...First off, I must begin with a warning. If you are a lover of Austrian pine, then you may find the following offensive. If you are a lover of Austrian pine and are inclined to write nasty letters to those who disparage this common landscape conifer, then please skip to another article. This story is about two Austrian pine trees that have graced my property for the past twenty years.

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Jan Byrne and Howard Russell...The diagnostic lab has received several samples of boxwood this spring. These boxwood were growing along the edge of walkways and sidewalks in residential areas. The bushes reportedly looked great last fall, but this spring the bushes had extensive blighting and in some cases were dead. (view photo) Needless to say the homeowners were extremely upset and were quick to find someone to blame for the damage.

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Howard Russell...Jill O’Donnell sent in a rather odd sample of what we both believe is Cooley spruce adelgid (view photos). I should note here that odd samples from Jill O’Donnell are nothing new to the lab. This sample of Cooley adelgids is odd because at this time of year the adelgids that feed on blue spruce should be in their newly formed galls at the end of this year’s new growth.

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Howard Russell...I routinely get calls requesting information on powderpost beetles. These calls are usually from people interested in preserving old barns, people with Michigan basements or people who discover piles of powder under a recently purchased piece of furniture or artwork. Unlike termites, which leave very little external evidence of their activity, powderpost beetles provide tell-tale signs of theirs. As their common name suggests, powderpost beetles often leave a pile of very fine powder under the wood in which they are feeding.

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Carolyn J. Randall...When pest problems occur in lawns, always consider whether a non-pesticide solution to the problem is practical and feasible. There are many integrated pest management solutions to lawn problems that may involve no, or reduced, use of pesticides. If pesticides are chosen to control the problem, be sure that the pest has been accurately identified. Always consult the product label to see if the pest is listed in the “pests controlled” section. Read the label carefully and follow all mixing and application instructions and safety precautions.

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Howard Russell...Several folks sent in to Diagnostic Services, clover mites, Bryobia praetiosa (Acarina: Tetranychidae) that they found by the hundreds or thousands on the outside of their homes. (view photos) Many had found their way inside, as well. Clover mites are among the smallest home invaders we have in Michigan. They belong to the spider mite family, Tetranychidae, and as the name implies, they feed on clovers and grasses.  People often mistake clover mites for minute six legged insects because their front legs are considerably longer than the others, and they are projected forward giving them the appearance of antennae (as we all know, mites do not have antennae).

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Howard Russell...
Oops, my mistake!
During the earlier part of this week, I attended an Invasive Arthropod Workshop at Clemson University in South Carolina. The workshop was sponsored by the Southern Plant Diagnostic Network. Seventy bug geeks from all over the country were in attendance. These included state university diagnosticians, USDA/APHIS/PPQ identifiers, state department of agriculture entomologists, survey entomologists with the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program and taxonomic experts in various groups of arthropods.

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Editor’s note: This article is gleaned from a web site hosted by Jim Harding, wildlife specialist at the MSU Museum. For more information about various animals that can become pests around the home and yard, visit Jim’s site at: http://critterguy.museum.msu.edu/

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Howard Russell...It seems that in most years the lab starts getting in ticks toward the end of May. But this year, we received our first ticks before the first of May. The tick we see most often in the lab is the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae). Also, we are seeing an increase in tick submissions from the mid-Michigan area. (view images)

[Read the rest of this article...]

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Zachary Huang...If you have been listening to the radio or reading papers the last few weeks, chances are you have already heard about the alarming honey bee die-offs around the country. The phenomenon is officially named “colony collapse disorder” (CCD). This disorder has the media all excited because it is large in scale (25 states are affected), came in quick (colonies that were fine in August/September collapsed around October/November), and hit people hard (many beekeepers with hundreds to thousands of colonies are losing 50-90 percent of their colonies). The worst of all of these scenarios; we do not yet know what causes it.

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Howard Russell...Over the past five or six years we have been getting samples of a noctuid caterpillar that people found crawling about their snow covered yards during the early winter months. The caterpillar looked like one of the many species of cutworm we have here in Michigan, so I didn’t think much about it other than it was strange to get cutworms in the lab during the winter. The familiar woolly bear caterpillars are known to be active during the winter, but this is fairly odd behavior for an essentially naked caterpillar.

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Howard Russell...Our lab and county extension offices around the state were getting swamped with calls about boxelder bugs when we had that warm spell towards the end of March. Many people complained about big disgusting globs of these black and red bugs appearing on the outside of their homes. I have globs of them too, but I don’t find these fall invading insects nearly as obnoxious as Asian lady beetles, as they are much more polite house guests.

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Howard Russell...It’s only March 16 and already the bugs are starting up. During the last week or so the lab has received samples of termite swarmers, winged carpenter ants and stoneflies from homeowners. The termites were collected from a large mass that appeared in someone’s basement (never a good thing). The carpenter ants were seen crawling out a small hole in the ceiling (also not a good thing).

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The invasive plant Hydrilla verticillata has been confirmed in a lake less than an hour’s drive from Michigan. As a result, Michigan Sea Grant is encouraging waterfront property owners, boaters, anglers and swimmers to search the state’s inland lakes to make sure it hasn’t infested bodies of water in Michigan. Sea Grant is also asking recreational users to take precautions against transporting hydrilla and other aquatic invasive species on their gear.

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Tom Ellis...Editor's note: Tom Ellis retired from MSU, but his advice on home maintenance for the fall is being reprinted for your information.

It's time for the fall inspection of the old homestead. Winter weather will only exasperate the problems you have now. Any repairs you do will also reduce the numbers of insects and other critters that "magically" appear during sunny winter days and early spring.

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Bert Cregg...As an Extension specialist, this is one of the calls I dread. Newspaper reporters, school kids – everyone wants a prediction on fall color. Although it doesn’t stop us from trying, a reliable prediction on fall color in Michigan is virtually impossible. Environmental conditions going into the fall certainly influence fall color (With relatively mild conditions of late for much of the state we would expect pretty good fall color this year.). But conditions during fall also influence fall color, and likely to a greater degree.

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Howard Russell...I had to cut down an old skaggy boxelder tree last week. There were thousands of the boxelder bug nymphs in the upper branches. For those us with boxelder trees growing near our homes, it looks like we are going to have plenty of company this winter.

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Howard Russell...Not only is the dogwood sawfly a pest of dogwood trees, it can also be a problem to homeowners by boring into landscape timbers and other wooden objects in ground contact in the fall of year. It doesn’t eat wood, but instead it chews out little chambers in which to spend the winter.

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Howard Russell...There is a strange little bug that shows up about this time every year called the foreign grain beetle, Ahasverus advena (Coleoptera: Cucujidae). This tiny beetle is considered a stored product pest in the literature, although it feeds primarily on molds and fungi growing on damp grain, grain products and other materials. It is found throughout the world and is very common around grain processing facilities where damp, moldy grain is allowed to accumulate.

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Steven Gower...Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), a biennial or perennial plant capable of reaching 6 to 12 ft. in height in Michigan, continues to be a public health hazard because of its potential to cause severe skin irritation. Currently giant hogweed has been confirmed in 16 counties in Michgian (Table 1).

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Strawberry root weevils, Otiorhynchus ovatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) have been invading homes and businesses for the past few weeks and we expect this to continue for the next month or so. This weevil is about a quarter of an inch long and dark brown in color. The abdomen is quite rounded and when viewed in profile, the weevil’s short snout can be easily seen. The larvae feed on small roots of wild and cultivated strawberries, brambles and some ornamental plants.

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Jennie Stanger...Downy mildew is a disease of vine crops such as cucumbers and melons and was first found in Michigan late in the 2005 growing season. (see photos) It is quite different from powdery mildew and not prevented by fungicides commonly used by home or commercial growers for that more familiar disease.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Like many county Extension offices, we are getting many, many calls from homeowners complaining about 1,000’s of tiny blackish red bugs crawling everywhere and over everything. Boxelder bug nymphs are moving through yards and neighborhoods in large harmless, but annoying, swarms.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...In the June 9 issue of the Landscape Alert we described an interesting webspinning sawfly that was found feeding on the foliage of viburnum. Last week we got in another type of bizarre sawfly larva that was found boring in the ends of new twigs of viburnum shrubs in a commercial nursery. Oddly, both of these sawflies were sent in from Oakland County.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Since mid-June we have received many calls from homeowners and Extension educators from around the state about the strange occurrence of the severed oak branches piling up in lawns. Many described the end of the branch as being neatly cut off. We appear to be experiencing a statewide outbreak of the twig pruner, Elaphidionoides villosus, (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). This is one of our more damaging longhorned borers, which are normally considered secondary invaders of declining trees and shrubs. The twig pruner attacks healthy twigs and small branches.

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The Summer Field Day for the Field day for Grand Rapids Landscape Professionals, July 28, will be held at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Registration will begin at 7:45 AM; morning workshops will start at 8:30 AM and last until 11:30 AM.

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Rebecca Finneran...Folks who know me also know that I am passionate about all things green. Yet sometimes a plant comes along that really blows my hair back. This year it’s the summer blooming lilies.

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Rebecca Finneran...Lurking between the ground cover, under the shrubs and, yes, even high overhead, poison ivy is one of the most persistent three-leaved vines known to gardeners. The old adage “with leaves of three, let it be...” is correct.

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Bert Cregg...Let’s face it. Most of us can’t imagine keeping weeds out of our lawns, gardens and flower beds without herbicides. But several of the products we rely on most, such as Round-up (glyophosate) and Weed-b-gone (2-4-D) can wreak havoc if they drift onto trees and shrubs. Both products are contact, post-emergent herbicides. That is, they kill plants by entering through the leaves and interfering with the plant’s metabolism. Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide. When spraying Round-up around your yard, act as though anything green you spray it on will die, because it likely will. 2-4-D is a selective, broadleaf weed killer. It will kill dandelions but not your turfgrass. It can, however, also kill your shade trees, shrubs and bedding plants.

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Anna Fiedler and Doug Landis...For many years, entomologists have recommended conserving insect predators, parasites and pollinators around the farm or garden to help suppress pests and increase crop yields. But what can you do to promote these beneficial insects? Since 2003, we have been investigating the role that native plants may play in helping to enhance the abundance and performance of these helpful arthropods. We were interested in learning if native Michigan perennial plants were attractive to natural enemies and determine if a succession of flowering species could provide floral resources over much of the growing season.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Last week Mary Wilson and Charlene Molnar from the Oakland county Extension office sent us some very interesting sawfly larvae that a client of theirs found feeding on their Viburnum. These were not your typical sawfly larvae one sees feeding on the foliage of many of our trees and shrubs. These sawflies belong to the family Pamphiliidae, the webspinning sawflies. We’ve had pamphiliids come in on pine before, but never from a deciduous tree or shrub.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...County Extension offices across the state have been swamped with calls from alarmed homeowners who found large numbers of fallen leaves beneath their sugar maples. Many who called Diagnostic Services were convinced their trees were dying. Not to worry – just another outbreak of the maple petiole borer, Caulocampus acericaulis (Hymenoptera: Tenthridinidae). The last major outbreak of this pest we experienced was in 2001. The worst is over for this current outbreak. I have not seen any new fallen leaves under my sugar maples for over a week now.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...We received a sample of white pine this week on which we noticed newly hatched pine bark adelgids. (see photo) The pine bark adelgid Pineus strobi (Homoptera: Adelgidae) is found throughout North America and Europe, and it occurs throughout the United States wherever white pines grow. This insect is quite small, dark and covered with white, waxy strands.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Two county Extension offices sent us photographs of bird mites that had invaded the bedrooms and beds of their clients. The most common parasitic bird mite we see is the chicken mite. These mites infest poultry roosts and wild bird’s nests. The chicken mite feeds primarily at night when the birds return to the nest or roast area. They hide during the day in nearby cracks, crevices and other protected sites.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Over the past couple of weeks several people have submitted some weird flies that were swarming in large masses near their homes. These flies are known as March flies in southern states because they their form large mating swarms during the month of March. (see photos) They normally swarm in May in Michigan. They are also known as love bugs because they often fly around in tandem.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...A lawn care service sent in some large black beetles this past week that were burrowing 6 to 8 inches deep into their client’s yard. We identified the beetles as black stag beetles, Lucanus placidus, (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). (see photos) This handsome beetle is a close relative of the common pinching bug, L.capreolus. Members of this genus are among Michigan’s largest beetles.

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Rebecca Finneran...Earth replenishing rainfall brings out the best in plants and animals of spring. Forest goers have been busily searching for morels and other interesting fungi that have been showing their colorful faces. When it comes to fungi, sometimes I wonder, who needs science fiction in the home theatre when you can have really “gross-out” fungi that occur naturally in the home landscape?

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Rebecca Finneran...Every few years, a growing season comes along that is truly memorable. Sometimes a cold, wet summer such as the one we had two years ago is the memory. Last year’s summer seemed so hot gardeners were just sighing with relief when fall finally came. This year the memory may be the spring that delighted our senses with amazingly abundant blooms. (see images)

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Wendy Marek, Administrative Assistant, in the Mason County MSUE office emailed me some very nice photos of a termite swarmer that showed up in a client’s home. (Never a good thing!). Swarmers or winged termites, also known as alates, are members of the colony’s reproductive caste. These typically issue by the 1000’s from mature colonies following a warm spring rain. The presence of winged termites in or around a structure indicates that a colony has been present for a minimum of 5 to 7 years.

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Howard Russell and Jackie Smith...Anyone who has waded in a trout stream in northern Michigan during the early summer knows that black flies are among the worst biting flies that nature has to offer. They attack in large swarms and favor the face and around the ears for feeding sites. They get tangled in our hair and they get into our eyes. We breathe them into our noses and mouths. Their bites swell up, bleed and itch for weeks.

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Howard Russell...Last year it was the 17-year cicadas, this year it seems we are going to have to deal with Formosan termite paranoia.

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