Check out this week's Turfgrass Team Times with the latest and greatest information about all things turfgrass.

Brood XIV (14) of the 17-year Periodical Cicadas have come and gone in Ohio, leaving behind oviposition damage (flagging) as a reminder of their spring fling. Annual Cicadas are now arriving on the scene along with their nemesis, Cicada Killer Wasps. Later, another trophic level may be added with the arrival of Red Velvet Ants.

If Trees Could Talk, what would they tell us? When you look at the lifetime of older trees, our lifetime can seem brief. I had this thought while attending a graveside service last Saturday.

In 2021, I posted a BYGL Alert titled, “Itchy Alert” (August 9, 2021) regarding a possible connection between periodical cicadas and itchy outbreaks of a non-native parasitic “itch mite." The Alert referenced reports from Maryland of itchy outbreaks associated with Brood X (10) of the 17-year.

Brood XIV (14) of the 17-year periodical cicadas have returned to the soil in southern Ohio. However, their damage (flagging) has become obvious and will remain apparent for some time.

Consistent heavy rains, coupled with warm temperatures, have re-awakened a sleeping primeval organism in southwest Ohio landscapes. The ballooning yellowish-green or bluish-black blobs are the hydrated form of the ancient cyanobacterium, Nostoc commune (Nc).

Bladder galls are rising from the leaf surfaces of poison ivy and fragrant sumac. The galls on both plants are the handiwork of the Poison Ivy Leaf Gall Mite (Aculops rhois).

Check out some timely turfgrass information as part of the recent Turfgrass Team Times (TTT).

The Asian Needle Ant is native to China, Korea, and Japan. Contrary to some recent media headlines, it is not new to the U.S. The needle ant was first found in Decatur, GA, in 1932, and has since been confirmed in a number of other states, including in one location in southwest Ohio.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has expanded the Box Tree Moth (BTM, Cydalima perspectalis) federal quarantine to include Berkeley County, West Virginia. The county is located in the eastern panhandle, bounded by Maryland and Virginia.