National Pollinator Week Begins Today

The Pollinator Partnership is proud to announce that June 18-24, 2018 has been designated National Pollinator Week. This week long observation is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what can be done to protect them.

 

Eleven years ago the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. Pollinator Week has now grown into an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided...

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Amy Stone

Sneaky Bagworms

I'm not yet saying this is going to be a banner season for Common Bagworms. However, I'm commonly finding bagworms in southwest Ohio without much effort. I've not heard reports from elsewhere in the state
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Joe Boggs

Scarlet Oak Sawfly Damage is Underway

First generation scarlet oak sawfly larvae are beginning to skeletonize oak leaves in southwest Ohio. The larvae are currently in the 1st and 2nd instar stages and a little less than 1/8" long. Despite this sawfly's common name, larvae may be found feeding on a wide range of oaks including pin, black, red, and white oaks as well as its namesake oak.
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Joe Boggs

Diagnosis: Bird...Or

Is it a birds-nest or is it something else? Birds-nest fungi are fascinating organisms, complete with little nest-like spore casings that act as splash cups, and peridioles complete with funicular cords. Oh, what wonders.
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Jim Chatfield
Paul Snyder

Rusty Hawthorns

This is the time of the year when rust diseases make it easy to spot wild hawthorns growing along Ohio trails as well as in landscapes. They have orange spotted leaves and "orange-hairy haws." I may be exaggerating a bit, but these rust symptoms can certainly make woodland hikes interesting.
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Joe Boggs

ODA Announces Gypsy Moth Mating Disruption Treatment

 

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) recently announced plans to begin aerial treatments designed to disrupt gypsy moth mating later this summer. Treatments will be applied to 32,526 acres in fifteen counties across the state. 
 

The gypsy moth is a non-native, invasive species that feeds on the leaves of more than 300 different trees and shrubs and is especially fond of oak as a caterpillar as shown below.

 

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Amy Stone
Marginal Leaf Fold Galls on Oaks and Black Locust boggs.47@osu.edu Wed, 06/13/2018 - 15:32
A couple of weeks ago, me and several of my Extension colleagues came across so-called marginal leaf fold galls on an oak on the OSU campus during a photography workshop. Since that time, I'm commonly finding these galls on oaks belonging to the "red oak group" as well as a similar gall on black locust in southwest Ohio.
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Joe Boggs