I revisited a Cilician fir (Abies cilicica) earlier this week in southwest Ohio that I found to be heavily infested with Elongate Hemlock Scale (EHS) (Fiorinia externa) in 2010. I’ve been monitoring this tree since that time and have watched the scale population rise and fall then rise again; the tree has never been treated.

Trees matter in many ways; just ask the Ents. Their beauty and grace is wondrous, they are proven healers for hospital patients, their social importance as historical references is well-known, from Johnny Appleseed to the Signal Tree in Summit County, and their environmental services, well…

 

  Check out treebenefits.com and itreetools.org for itemization of the economic benefits of the environmental services of trees: Storm water remediation, energy savings, air quality improvement, carbon effects, property values.

 

  With that in mind, in past years we...

Julie Crook and I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday “cruising” the Cincinnati Botanical Garden and zoo with Steve Foltz (Director of Horticulture) looking at their impressive plant displays and working with Steve on with some diagnostics. During our walk-about, Steve pointed out an “old friend” scurrying beneath a goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata; Soapberry Family, Sapindaceae): a Goldenrain Tree Bug (Jadera haematoloma).

I was called out to visit a high tunnel vegetable grower, who was concerned about what he was seeing on tomato leaves, which he hadn’t seen before on the plants.  He told me that spots had suddenly began to appear on his tomato plants, and that he really didn’t want to lose the plants or the huge crop of tomatoes that the plants had set.

 

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What begins as minor feeding injury on the leaves of basswood (Tilia spp.), can quickly become an attention grabber, especially if you are unfamiliar with the insect and the injury caused. The leaves appear to be torched and stand out among other trees in the area. The damage is obvious even as you are traveling on highways - at the recommended speeds of course. 

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Smokebush or smoketree (Cotinus) is puffing away right now, providing the almost ethereal inflorescences that give it its name  and alternates such as cloud bush, mist tree, wig tree, and Jupiter’s beard.  

I saw my first lighting beetles (Family Lampyridae) flashing in my backyard in southwest Ohio a little over a week ago. There were just a few; nothing to get too excited about. However, numbers have risen over the past few days to provide an impressive nighttime flashing display and I've gotten a few reports that the same is occurring in the central part of the state.

Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) are on the wing in southern and central Ohio with some localized heavy populations. Adding to the potential grub-party, I've been capturing a few Southern Masked Chafers (Cyclocephala lurida) around my porch lights at night in the southwest part of the state. Northern Masked Chafers (C. borealis) appear to be lagging behind.

I came across an old friend in a southwest Ohio county park over the weekend: the wart like, irregularly shaped galls, known as "bladdergalls," adorning the upper leaf surfaces of a red maple. The galls are produced under the gene-manipulating direction of the Maple Bladdergall Mite, Vasates quadripedes (family Eriophyidae). The mite also produces bladdergalls on silver maple.

The characteristic leaf damage produced by Lace Bugs (order Hemiptera; family Tingidae) is becoming evident in southwest Ohio. Lace bugs are tiny insects with the adults measuring no more than 3/16" long. They are so-named because of the lace-like pattern of veins and membranes in their wings. The nymphs are even tinier and appear to be covered in small spikes.