The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) is asking Ohioans to send in unsolicited seeds. Earlier today the ODA distributed the release that is included in this BYGL Alert.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) has been notified that several Ohio residents have received unsolicited packages in the mail containing seeds that appear to have originated from China. The types of seeds in the packages are currently unknown and may contain invasive plant species. Similar seed packets have been received recently in several other locations across the United States.

Walnut moth caterpillars feed in groups, or "colonies," of 10-30 individuals throughout their development which is why their defoliation is often focused on a single branch or a group of adjoining branches. However, it's also why multiple colonies can quickly defoliate small trees.

Yellownecked caterpillars feed in groups, sometimes called "colonies," numbering 10 – 30 individuals throughout their development. The colonies tend to consume leaves one branch at a time unless populations are high and multiple colonies are feeding on many branches.

Join the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program for tomorrow's (Friday, July 24, 2020, beginning at 10:00 am) virtual program, Beech Leaf Disease History, Treatment and Surveys.

Check out this week's Turfgrass Times.

Annual Dog-Day Cicadas (Neotibicen canicularis; family Cicadidae) are singing in Ohio. Curtis Young (OSU Extension, Van Wirt County) heard his first cicada on July 3. Dave Shetlar (Professor Emeritus, OSU Entomology) reported hearing his first cicada in central Ohio last Friday and I heard my first cicada song late last week in the southwest part of the state.

I came across a collection of first-generation catalpa hornworms (Ceratomia catalpae) feeding on a southern catalpa (Catalpa speciose, family Bignoniaceae)) planted in a county park in southwest Ohio. The caterpillars were 2nd instars when I found them on Monday; however, these native moth caterpillars develop rapidly.

The cedar quince rust fungus alternates between junipers and rosaceous hosts such as hawthorn, causing stem cankers and fruit infections on the rosaceous host.

Here is the link to last week's Turfgrass Times: https://youtu.be/i1c_PH1yQ50