1st Generation Scarlet Oak Sawfly Larvae

First generation scarlet oak sawfly (Caliroa quercuscoccineae) larvae are munching oak leaves in southwest Ohio. The larvae are currently in the 1st and 2nd instar stages and a little less than 1/8" long. Despite this sawfly's common name, larvae may be found feeding on a wide range of oaks including pin, black, red, and white oaks as well as its namesake oak.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Maple Anthracnose

Jeff Stachler, OSU Extensioneer in Auglaize County sent the following message this past Tuesday on June 6:

  “A maple tree in the front of a home yard has leaves with the symptoms you see in the photos.  Veins and leaf tips are black with yellow and brown colors below the black.  Is there anything that can be done or should be done?” He also sent the tell-tale photo above, showing “water-soaked” darkish lesions along leaf veins.

 

Right on time. Last June 5, I took a picture of a neighbor’s red maple in Doyletown in northeast Ohio of the same problem: maple...

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Authors
Jim Chatfield

Dripping Dogwoods

I recently came across dogwoods growing along a trail in southwest Ohio that were festooned with the frothy, spittle-like masses produced by the Dogwood Spittlebug (Clastoptera proteus); a reminder that there are at least 23 different species of spittlebugs (family Aphrophoridae) in North America.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Rusty Hawthorns

It’s easy to spot wild hawthorns growing along Ohio trails at this time of the year if they sport gaudy orange-spotted leaves. The spots are the telltale leaf symptoms of Cedar-Hawthorn Rust and the leaf infections can cause hawthorns to stand out among other understory trees and shrubs.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Where Do Four-Lined Plant Bugs Come From?

I’ve come to expect seeing some damage each spring from our native Four-Lined Plant Bug (Poecilocapsus lineatus, family Hemiptera). However, their wreckage appears to be particularly heavy this season in some parts of Ohio. The question “where did they come from” is common when hordes of hungry insect pests descend seemingly out of nowhere onto plants to cause extensive damage.
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Authors
Joe Boggs