In 2021, I posted a BYGL Alert titled, “Itchy Alert” (August 9, 2021) regarding a possible connection between periodical cicadas and itchy outbreaks of a non-native parasitic “itch mite." The Alert referenced reports from Maryland of itchy outbreaks associated with Brood X (10) of the 17-year.

Brood XIV (14) of the 17-year periodical cicadas have returned to the soil in southern Ohio. However, their damage (flagging) has become obvious and will remain apparent for some time.

Consistent heavy rains, coupled with warm temperatures, have re-awakened a sleeping primeval organism in southwest Ohio landscapes. The ballooning yellowish-green or bluish-black blobs are the hydrated form of the ancient cyanobacterium, Nostoc commune (Nc).

Bladder galls are rising from the leaf surfaces of poison ivy and fragrant sumac. The galls on both plants are the handiwork of the Poison Ivy Leaf Gall Mite (Aculops rhois).

Check out some timely turfgrass information as part of the recent Turfgrass Team Times (TTT).

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has expanded the Box Tree Moth (BTM, Cydalima perspectalis) federal quarantine to include Berkeley County, West Virginia. The county is located in the eastern panhandle, bounded by Maryland and Virginia.

Brood XIV (14) of the 17-year periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) in southern Ohio remains impactful. The cacophonous chorusing of the males continues with females producing egg slits (a.k.a. oviposition slits) on a wide range of plant stems. The oviposition damage is now producing noticeable stem dieback called “flagging.”

This week's is full of seasonal turfgrass information, and a warning to protect plants, and yourself, as temperatures increase over the weekend and throughout the week. 

We are in the thick of it… or TICK of it. Tick season is all year long, but we have been receiving a high volume of tick reports this spring. Prevention should always be your first line of defense. But if you are bitten , it can be helpful to have the tick tested for pathogens. OSU now has a tick testing lab for just such a purpose.