Participants in today's OSU Extension, Hamilton County, Master Gardner Volunteers Diagnostic Walk-About at Glenwood Gardens were treated to the handiwork of the Sunflower Headclipping Weevil on purple coneflower. The damage included dangling seed heads and stems that looked like soda straws.

We reported on cedar-quince rust on hawthorns in a BYGL Alert! a couple of weeks ago [see "Rusty Hawthorns," June 14]. The disease is so common on hawthorns it's become an annual BYGL missive. However, we were surprised by recent observations of cedar-quince rust occurring on Callery pear.

Beginning this year, the Ohio Arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus) Surveillance Update can be found on the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) website at http://www.odh.ohio.gov/arboupdate.  The table will be updated each Monday through mosquito season.

Mosquito season is here.  The ODH Zoonotic Disease Program, in partnership with ODH Laboratory, local public health partners and sanitary district partners, collects and tests mosquitoes from many communities in Ohio as part of statewide mosquito-borne disease surveillance...

The OSU Woodland Stewards Program offers educational workshops, programs and tours throughout the year. The classes are always listed on their website, but here is a special shout out for three programs you don't want to miss.

In early October, 2011, I received a phone call from a homeowner in eastern Cincinnati who said brightly colored beetles were destroying her Sedum x 'Autumn Joy' (family Crassulaceae). I visited and found that a flea beetle that I'd never seen before was doing so much damage it was hard to identify the plants.

 

While there has been an increase of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) sightings in northwest Ohio, specifically in Lucas and Fulton Counties, late last week some of the leaf eating caterpillars appeared to be dying. Upon closer inspection, it appears that entomophaga (Entomophaga maimaiga), or the gypsy moth fungus, is doing the trick.

 

Gypsy moth caterpillars killed by the fungus entomophaga typically die hanging vertically from the tree trunks with their prolegs stretched out laterally. Caterpillar appear to shrink in girth and become somewhat...

Willow Pinecone Galls are one of the most unusual galls found in Ohio; I post a BYGL Alert! about them every year. Maybe more than one to spread the gall-joy! The galls are created by the Willow Pinecone Gall Midge to house, nourish, and protect a single fly larva (maggot) located deep within the gall. The literature lists a number of willow hosts; however, I've only ever found them on black willow.

I'm seeing large numbers of Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) in southwest Ohio. Compared to previous seasons, the beetles appear to be more evenly distributed; they are not hard to find. I'm hearing similar reports from the central part of the state.

Have you ever thought “why in the world should I care about plant families?” Or why does it matter if a plant belongs to a certain family?  What if you were asked, “Can my Pyracantha (firethorn) shrubs get fireblight?”  or “What other plants could be possible target hosts for the Emerald Ash Borer”?  You will be able to understand the answers to these questions, IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF PLANT FAMILIES! 

Dodders are parasitic plants belonging to the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. They were formerly placed in the dodder family, Cuscutaceae, with only one genus in the family, Cuscuta. Depending on the reference, there are somewhere between 100 – 170 species worldwide with 13 species found in Ohio.