Night Raiders

It's often impossible to identify the insect culprit responsible for causing holes or jagged margins on tree leaves if the perpetrator has left the scene. Unless there is a clear association between the tree species and a pest, we rely on dubious "it could be" speculation to solve a bit-and-run.
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Joe Boggs

Sedum Erratum

I posted a BYGL Alert this past Tuesday about an unidentified flea beetle attacking sedum in Ohio [see "Sedum Conundrum and Passionate Plea," June 26]. I called the beetle the "Sedum Flea Beetle" in my report.
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Joe Boggs

Lovely American Lotus

American lotus (Nelumbo lutea) is one of my favorite native wildflowers. In my opinion, there is nothing else that rises from our waters to rival the allure of this aquatic beauty; except perhaps for walleye and largemouth bass.
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Joe Boggs

Head Clipper Attacks Cone Heads

Participants in today's OSU Extension, Hamilton County, Master Gardner Volunteers Diagnostic Walk-About at Glenwood Gardens were treated to the handiwork of the Sunflower Headclipping Weevil on purple coneflower. The damage included dangling seed heads and stems that looked like soda straws.
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Joe Boggs

Cedar-Quince Rust on Callery Pear

We reported on cedar-quince rust on hawthorns in a BYGL Alert! a couple of weeks ago [see "Rusty Hawthorns," June 14]. The disease is so common on hawthorns it's become an annual BYGL missive. However, we were surprised by recent observations of cedar-quince rust occurring on Callery pear.
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Joe Boggs
Jim Chatfield

Ohio Arbovirus Surveillance Updates

Beginning this year, the Ohio Arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus) Surveillance Update can be found on the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) website at http://www.odh.ohio.gov/arboupdate.  The table will be updated each Monday through mosquito season.

Mosquito season is here.  The ODH Zoonotic Disease Program, in partnership with ODH Laboratory, local public health partners and sanitary district partners, collects and tests mosquitoes from many communities in Ohio as part of statewide mosquito-borne disease surveillance...

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Jennifer Andon

Sedum Conundrum and Passionate Plea

In early October, 2011, I received a phone call from a homeowner in eastern Cincinnati who said brightly colored beetles were destroying her Sedum x 'Autumn Joy' (family Crassulaceae). I visited and found that a flea beetle that I'd never seen before was doing so much damage it was hard to identify the plants.
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Joe Boggs

Some Gypsy Moth Caterpillars Have Met Their Match

 

While there has been an increase of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) sightings in northwest Ohio, specifically in Lucas and Fulton Counties, late last week some of the leaf eating caterpillars appeared to be dying. Upon closer inspection, it appears that entomophaga (Entomophaga maimaiga), or the gypsy moth fungus, is doing the trick.

 

Gypsy moth caterpillars killed by the fungus entomophaga typically die hanging vertically from the tree trunks with their prolegs stretched out laterally. Caterpillar appear to shrink in girth and become somewhat...

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Amy Stone

Pinecones on Willow? They're Baaack!

Willow Pinecone Galls are one of the most unusual galls found in Ohio; I post a BYGL Alert! about them every year. Maybe more than one to spread the gall-joy! The galls are created by the Willow Pinecone Gall Midge to house, nourish, and protect a single fly larva (maggot) located deep within the gall. The literature lists a number of willow hosts; however, I've only ever found them on black willow.
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Joe Boggs