Scuzzy Looking Oaks

Holes and blotch-type leafmines produced by the oak shothole leafminer coupled with necrotic tissue caused by oak anthracnose are combining to make some oaks in southwest Ohio look pretty scuzzy. The bad news is nothing can be done now to reverse the damage. The good news is that neither of these occasional springtime afflictions has a history of causing significant harm to the overall health of their oak hosts.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Watch Out Four-Line Plant Bug - She Means Business (For Real This Time!)

In 2018, around this same time period, I wrote a BYGL Alert about the damage in my garden caused by the four-lined plant bug (Poecilocapus lineatus). I was a bit upset because of the amount of damage to a wide variety of plants. I SAID I was going to take action but of course, I never got around to it. Well, that's about to change this year!
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Authors
Pam Bennett

Snipe Hunting

Participants in today's Greater Cincinnati BYGLive! Diagnostic Walk-About had a successful snipe hunt at the Cincinnati Nature Center. I'm not talking about the mythical forest creature that's only ever been seen by camp counselors or older siblings.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Look Before You Sit on Concrete

We're seeing large numbers of tiny, fast-moving bright red mites scurrying around on sunny surfaces such as on picnic tables, patios, sidewalks, concrete retaining walls, and on the outside walls of homes and buildings in southern Ohio. These nuisance mites belong to the genus Balaustium (family Erythraeidae) and are sometimes called "concrete mites" owing to locations where they tend to congregate.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Rise of Fall Webworms

First-generation nests of the deceptively named fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) are now becoming evident in Ohio. This native moth has two generations per season in Ohio with the first-generation appearing once the overwintered eggs hatch.
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Authors
Joe Boggs