Overwintered common bagworm eggs are hatching in southwest Ohio. The 1st instar caterpillars are very small with their bags measuring around 1/8" in length.

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.

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!

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.

The Ohio State University Turf Team has kicked-off a weekly seasonal video that you won't want to miss if you are a green industry professional working with turf. OSU experts will be sharing turfgrass tips from Memorial Day - Labor Day. We will be sharing these via BYGL each week. 

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.

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.

Forecast models for this summer water quality in Lake Erie indicate a greater chance of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB).

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is becoming more and more evident in landscapes, parks, open lots, and roadsides across Ohio. The non-native plant has taken hold in a small park in NW Ohio and management attempts are currently underway. The photos were taken a couple weeks ago.

This large shrub or small tree, the white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), has a somewhat spreading habit. The plant is in its glory in NW Ohio this week catching gardeners' attention. The white, slightly fragrant flowers, are born in panicles that beautifully hang downward with a very soft and delicate appearance.