What are those hordes of yellow aphids sucking juices from common milkweed "reserved" for monarch butterfly caterpillars? They are Oleander Aphids and their appearance on milkweeds reminds us that nature makes no food reservations. This non-native aphid may be found sucking juices from over 50 hosts belonging to 16 plant families.

David Gressley (Director of Horticulture, Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum) sent me a video yesterday morning of a chorus line of Beech Blight Aphids (Grylloprociphilus imbricator) shaking their woolly derrieres in a synchronous samba. Frankly, I believe no other insect upstages this aphid in entertainment value.

The improbable looking but appropriately named Willow Pinecone Galls are now large enough to be very noticeable on their namesake host. As the common name suggests, the galls closely resemble pine cones with closed seed scales. They are produced on willow by a gall-midge but cause little damage to the overall health of their namesake host.

Two general defoliators are producing damage in southwest Ohio: yellownecked caterpillars and walnut caterpillars. Both of these caterpillars feed in groups, or "colonies," of 10-30 individuals throughout their development which is why their defoliation is often focused on a single branch or a group of adjoining branches. However, it's also why multiple colonies can quickly defoliate small trees.

Dogbane is the representative species for the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, which includes milkweeds and other plants that ooze milky sap ladened with poisonous alkaloids. Indeed, Apocynum translates to "poisonous to dogs," or "dog killer." Sap from the plant is reported to have been used against ravenous feral dogs.

For 2017, a new program is available at the Ohio State University Cultivar Trial garden that offers a 360˙ panorama tour for anyone who uses a computer, cell phone, tablet or  a VR headset.

White pine weevil larval feeding damage is now evident throughout Ohio. Look for brown, wilted main shoots (terminal leaders) with the tips sometimes curved into a "shepherd’s crook." There is one generation per year and localized populations may be reduced by removing and destroying the infested terminals before new adult weevils emerge.

  Let us call this A Case of Gallignostics. Plant galls are defined as abnormal plant growths caused by a gall-maker; the gall-maker being certain insects, mites, fungi, and bacteria. From horned oak gall to bacterial crown gall, from maple bladder galls to cedar-apple rust galls, there are many galls of interest to horticulturists. Relative to all this, Joe Boggs recently got an e-mail from Michael Goldman of the Grange Insurance Audubon Center:

 

  I'm a big fan of the BYGL, and found something here that might be interesting for it.  The pictures I took look like some...

Paper Wasps, Yellowjackets, and Baldfaced Hornets are beneficial insects. Just keep repeating that to yourself when you're being chased or stung by these hymenopteran marauders! They’ve been with us since the beginning of the season. However, this is the time of the year when their ever-expanding nests become large enough and contain enough individuals to make their presence sometimes painfully known.

Aug 3, 2017, 8:00am CSAW Level 1 - A full 8 hour class with a lecture portion in the morning and a hands-on portion in the afternoon.