Turfgrass and Ornamental Entomology at Auburn University

08/30/2019

lady beetles (ladybirds) are important predators of aphids and especially crape myrtle bark scale (CMBS). I recently captured the larva of a mealybug destroyer, which is white like the scale insects, walking on an infested crape myrtle tree. These immature stages of this mealybug are common and aggressive, mobile predators. If the white blob on your crape myrtle tree moves, it is not CMBS-it's a beneficial!

08/10/2016

I must have missed this one earlier in the spring. There is a group in Brazil that are implicating an insect growth regulator for microcephaly and not Zika. This IGR is put into drinking water for mosquito control in Brazil and is correlated with a few but not all microcephaly cases. Interesting counterpoint, but most of the public health scientists quoted still point to Zika as the cause of microcephaly.
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=467138913

A report from doctors in Argentina raises the possibility that a mosquito pesticide could be responsible for an increase in microcephaly in Brazil. But many top scientists strongly disagree.

07/26/2016

Dr. Jay McCurdy has a nice article in the 2016 AL Green journal on native areas and Operation Pollinator work in MS. Check it out.

http://www.alabamachaptergcsa.org/al-green/volume-1-2016.html

Alabama Chapter Golf Course Superintendents Association

07/09/2016

05/27/2016

First mole cricket nymph of the year. Likely still too early for peak egg hatch though. https://t.co/DmKG0xYy01

Get the whole picture - and other photos from David Held

05/20/2016

it must be entomology news Friday. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/tarantula-plane-air-transat-1.3590780

Catherine Moreau was watching a movie on her iPad on a flight to Montreal when she felt what she thought was a wire brushing against her. When she looked down she saw a giant, furry tarantula climbing up her leg.

05/20/2016

With thousands of trained entomologists in the US and arguably a large portion of those in CA, I find it strange that they could not find a competent person that could give a common name for the insect involved. The 'mystery bug' title suggest to me the reporters are lazy.
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/05/20/mysterious-bug-invasion-creeps-out-tracy-family/

Their house is the only one in the small development of Bright Homes, but they say they aren’t the only ones living there.

05/19/2016

https://t.co/ZwR8w8yA51
Trees and small plants droop at night due to lower turgor pressure. Could sap feeding insects make them droop more?

For the first time, trees have been shown to undergo physical changes at night that can be likened to sleep

05/05/2016

Ambrosia beetle grass sticks on crape myrtle in Auburn. About 10-12 attacks in a 2-3 ft section. https://t.co/SNLUdd2qED

Get the whole picture - and other photos from David Held

04/13/2016

Will Maryland Be The First State To Ban Neonicotinoids https://t.co/SdUl3axfWC This may force Congress to action independent of EPA review.

A bill banning consumer use and retail sales of neonicotinoids has passed the House and Senate in Maryland and is now awaiting governor Larry Hogan's signature. If it becomes law, it will be the first state-level ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, although there are several county and municipal level…

04/12/2016

Ortho to stop using chemicals considered to be harmful to bees https://t.co/5ny4PDjILu via

Ortho, the insect control product maker, said Tuesday it would begin “to transition away” from using chemicals that are harmful to honey bees and other pollinators, responding to growing pressure from environmental advocates. 

04/09/2016

wondering about Peter Price..we can thank him for our understanding why some insects prefer to eat healthy plants. https://t.co/yrckAVbJPe

Four sources of evidence are used to support the Plant Vigor Hypothesis that many herbivore species feed preferentially on vigorous plants or plant modules, as ...