Look closely at the leaves of slippery elm (= red elm) (Ulmus rubra); you may be lucky enough to spot the unusual looking elm cockscomb galls produced by the so-called elm cockscomb aphid, Colopha ulmicola. Although these galls are commonly mentioned in the literature, I've rarely seen them in southwest Ohio where elm sack galls produced by the aphid, Tetraneura ulmi, are the dominant aphid gall found on slippery elm.
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I didn't need to travel far today to discover an entomological wonder. Attached to my porch railing was a tiny, clay pot; the handiwork of a Potter Wasp (Eumenes sp.). As their common name describes, potter wasps fashion small rounded jug-like nests out of clay, and they attach the nests to leaves, twigs, or to structures such as window seals or in my case, a porch railing.
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During the hot, dry conditions of summer, numerous trees will shed some of their leaves. A good example is tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera). I (think) I remember flying in from the Pacific Northwest in August one dry year and as we got close to landing, was able to pick out the tuliptrees due to their earlier than fall color yellow leaves interspersed on the tree among the more prevalent green.
Today, I was walking in Wooster in northeast Ohio, and the ground was littered with fallen leaves of tuliptree. It even seemed like some of them were sweating in the 90+...
From Dogwood diseases to doghouse damage, from beetlemania to bot rot, literally from Aster yellows to Zinnia powdery mildew, diagnostic workshops are where it’s at. Please come to Wooster in the late, late summer sun. Samples galore and clinic catharsis, a few short talks, a diagnostic walkabout at Secrest Arboretum six years after the storm, the Secrest sound system blaring out Townes van Zandt, Johnny Cash, and Leadbelly. Yowser. Registration information is coming soon, but for now highlight with stars and multicolored magic markers, from the Ohio State University Extension...
Cutleaf Teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus) and Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) are native to Eurasia and North Africa and were originally introduced into the U.S. in the 1700s for use in the textile industry; the prickly dried seed heads were used to raise the nap on fabrics. Later introductions were for ornamental use with the persistent dried seed heads still used in flower arrangements. They are now found throughout the U.S. often creating havoc in naturalized areas.
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True to their common name, Flower Longhorn Beetles (family Cerambycidae, subfamily Lepturinae) are found on flowers where they feed on pollen and nectar. They have a particular affinity for the umbel flowers produced my members of the carrot/parsley/celery family (Apiaceae, formerly Umbelliferae). I always look closely at Queen Anne's lace which is where I found the bachelor beetle shown at the beginning of this report and the cavorting couple shown below. Flower longhorn beetles are considered plant pollinators although little is known of the extent of their impact.
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Individual Pine Tube Moth (Argyrotaenia pinatubana) caterpillars use silk to form a hollow tube by binding together 10 - 20 needles. They then move up and down their silk-lined tube to feed on the tips of the bound needles. Once they've almost eaten themselves (literally) out of house and home, the caterpillars will move to another set of needles to repeat their tube-making needle-feeding behavior. The caterpillars eventually pupate within their needle tubes.
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Like many powdery mildew diseases, high relative humidity but not high rainfall is a key to dogwood powdery mildew, caused by the fungus Erysiphe pulchra. There is a good bit of this disease this year in northeast Ohio, which is quite dry, and yesterday I took a look at some flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) growing in pots in trials. There was a good bit of fungal mycelial growth and spores en masse evident on the foliage (what is called the “sign” of the pathogen), which is something everyone is familiar with for many powdery mildew diseases. Good examples are lilac...
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