Newly emerged insects are often ghostly in color, having reduced or absent pigment. This change in the recognizable color may confuse budding entomologist who have never caught an insect mid-molt before, and is why we're here discussing MOLTING today!

What's buzzing and blooming in your garden this week? Take a stroll through your vegetable garden and see if you can pick out the female and male cucurbit flowers.

Infestations of Spotted Lanternfly in Cuyahoga, Lorain, and Jefferson Counties have been Scouted and Treated for Spotted Lanternfly. This invasive insect has been hitchhiking on trains coming from Pennsylvania. So why trap on an island in the middle of Lake Erie? One word…..Campers.

Beth Scheckelhoff (OSU Extension Putnam County) reported she observed large numbers of Green June Beetles (Cotinis nitida, family Scarabaeidae) buzz-bombing the OSU Ag campus yesterday. The behavior of the adults and larvae (grubs) of this North American native makes this beetle a legitimate summer oddity.

During this week’s Tuesday morning BYGL Zoom Inservice, Curtis Young (OSU Extension, Van Wirt County) reported that he heard the first Annual Cicadas (family Cicadidae) this season singing in northwest Ohio over the 4th of July Weekend.  Likewise, I heard my first cicadas in the southwest part of the state this past Friday.

 

Annual cicadas share several behavioral traits with their periodical cicada (Magicicada spp.) cousins.  The nymphs of both types of cicadas develop...

Most individuals associate magnolias blooming with early Spring but those are not magnolias that are currently in bloom.  The magnolias blooming which are capturing the attention of NEOhio plant lovers are the lesser noticed Magnolia virginiana commonly called Sweetbay, Laurel or Swamp Magnolia.  Sweetbay Magnolia (SBM) is an excellent native tree that is not nearly as well-known or used as often in landscapes as other magnolias.  The native range of SBM extends mostly along the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains beginning at Long Island and heading south all the...

Multiple partners from Ohio Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture-Division of Forestry, The Ohio State University, Cleveland Metroparks, and USDA – APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) assemble to scout for Spotted Lanternfly in potentially infested areas in and around Cleveland – Cuyahoga County including Mill Creek Metropark, Paramelt, and St Joseph Cemetery. Additionally, and area in Amherst located in Lorain County was inspected and sprayed.

Reports of noticeable numbers of Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) were on the rise last week in Ohio. Thus far, population distribution is highly localized. This population pattern has been typical for Japanese beetles in Ohio for many years. A short drive can take you from a location with high numbers to another location with virtually no beetles.

The definition of fasciation in Merriam-Webster is a malformation of plant stems commonly manifested as enlargement and flattening as if several stems were fused

Here is your Growing Degree Day (GDD) summary ending June 30, 2022. As we turn the page into a new month, the information will be compiled from the months previous. And as always, you can monitor the site more regularly, and compare years by using the summary icon on the webpage.