Blue-winged wasps are continuing to make low-level flights over lawns in southwest Ohio. As their common name implies, the wasps have dark blue wings. Their legs and thorax are also dark blue. However, their most distinguishing features are two light-yellow spots at the top of their orange-tipped abdomens.

If you're ever visiting Cincinnati during the dog days of summer, keep your eyes peeled for a fascinating non-native lizard scurrying over rock walls, darting across sidewalks, and lurking in landscaping. These lizards are intriguing because the story of how they got to Cincinnati and their ascent to equal treatment amongst native reptiles is almost unprecedented for reptiles in Ohio.

Last week, Emerald Ash Borer University (EABU) hosted a webinar on the Spotted Laternfly (Lycorma delicatula). The session has been recorded and is available online for viewing. The presentation is free, as well as other past EABU educational sessions. 

Participants at last week's Greater Cincinnati Diagnostic Walk-About were thrilled to view the unusual leaf symptoms caused by the Redbud Leaffolder on its namesake host. Or, maybe it was just me who was thrilled. Most of the leaf damage this season is produced by the current 3rd generation caterpillars.

Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) is potentially the most devastating non-native pest to have ever arrived in North America. The beetle kills trees belonging to 12 genera in 9 plant families. This includes all native maples, a preferred host. Successful eradication is essential to avoiding a catastrophic loss of trees on a scale never before seen in the U.S.

The annual migration of monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippusis) has begun. It has to be an amazing adventure if you are the butterfly, or spectacular site if you are a person able to observe the migration in progress.

I believe no other insect upstages Beech Bligh Aphids in entertainment value. During a visit to a Lake County, OH, park last Thursday, Jim Chatfield and I came across a cluster of these engaging aphids shaking their woolly derrieres in what appeared to be a synchronous samba. All we needed was "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" by KC and the Sunshine Band blaring in the background to complete the effect.

Catalpas (Catalpa spp., family Bignoniaceae) have long been one of my favorite trees. Both the Northern Catalpa (C. speciose) and its shorter southern cousin, S. bignonioides, sport huge, orchid-like flowers that attract a bevy of pollinators, particularly bumble bees.

The long-term outlook for eastern black walnuts seemed dire when the Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) complex was confirmed in Butler County, OH, in 2013. Thankfully, TCD has not followed the devastating trajectory we originally feared. It is not rolling through our native black walnuts à la emerald ash borer on native ash. The two situations are like apples-to-oranges.

When you read or hear about "Asian hornets," you need to keep two things in mind. First, the "Asian" moniker has been commonly applied to at least three hornet species native to various Asian regions. The second thing to remember is that none of these hornets have been found living in the U.S.