Coneflower Decapitations Commence

The sunflower headclipping weevil (Haplorhynchites aeneus) is a well-documented native pest across the Great Plains where they attack cultivated and wild sunflowers (Helianthus spp., family Asteraceae). The weevil reared its ugly snout in Ohio several years ago, but not as an agricultural pest.
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Joe Boggs

Magnolia Massacre

Signate Lady Beetle larvae totally decimated a magnolia scale infestation a small saucer magnolia. The larvae have distinctly segmented bodies cloaked in cottony white wax making them look like mealybugs which they will also eat. The adults are very small measuring around 1/8” long.
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Joe Boggs
Turfgrass Times, 07.09.2021 stone.91@osu.edu Sun, 07/11/2021 - 08:03
Check out this week's edition of the OSU Turfgrass Times - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuWAaPsjvQA
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Amy Stone
Periodical Cicadas Depart and Dog-Day Cicadas Arrive … with Their Killers boggs.47@osu.edu Fri, 07/09/2021 - 14:42
Brood X (10) of the 17-year Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada spp.; family Cicadidae) have come and gone in Ohio leaving behind oviposition damage (flagging) as a reminder of their spring fling. Annual Dog-Day Cicadas (Neotibicen canicularis; family Cicadidae) are now arriving on the scene along with their nemesis, Cicada Killer Wasps (Sphecius speciosus).
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Joe Boggs

Fuzzy White Planthopper Nymphs

I recently came across clumps of intensely white cottony material at eye level on the stems of a red elm (= slippery elm, Ulmus rubra) along a forest trail in southwest Ohio. A close examination revealed the insects beneath the white fluff to be nymphs (immatures) of fulgoroid planthoppers (order Hemiptera, superfamily Fulgoroidea).
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Joe Boggs
Assassins are on the Loose! boggs.47@osu.edu Tue, 07/06/2021 - 19:04
It’s common for people to call all insects bugs. However, entomologists reserve the bug name for a specific group of insects that belong to the suborder Heteroptera (order Hemiptera). To emphasize the point, entomologists refer to these heteropteran insects as the true bugs which may imply we consider all other insects to be false bugs but that’s not true.
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Joe Boggs

Asian Giant Hornet (a.k.a. "Murder Hornet"): It’s Not in Ohio, but Remain Vigilant

A recent announcement by the Washington Department of Agriculture has put the Asian Giant Hornet (AGH) (Vespa mandarinia) back in the news. A dead male hornet was submitted by a homeowner located in the state of Washington just outside the geographical locations of the original detections in 2019 and 2020.
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Joe Boggs