Clik here to view.
Eastern tent caterpillars setting up camp
Young eastern tent caterpillar on a cherry branch. Photo: SD Frank Yesterday I found young eastern tent caterpillars building a tent. They seem a little late this year but we’ve had a cool spring. Last...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cankerworms finally hatching and dangling from trees
Cankerworm egg mass. Photo: SD Frank I have been monitoring several cankerworm egg masses on campus but the cool weather has prevented them from hatching. Yesterday while out collecting scale insects I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Aphids on trees and shrubs
Aphids on rose leaves. Photo: SD Frank This week I found clusters of aphids on my Knockout roses. This time of year lots of plants start getting aphid infestations. Most are short-lived though. Natural...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rose rosette disease
Bush with symptoms of rose rosette disease. Photo: SD Frank As roses begin to grow, look for signs of rose rosette disease. The disease is caused by a virus transmitted by microscopic eriophyid mites...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bringing the bees to the masses!
Many visitors to public gardens probably come more for the blooms than the bees. In fact, many might even consider an encounter with bees to be decidedly not on their to-do list. However, the visitors...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rose leaves eaten by sawflies
There are several sawflies that feed on roses. The cool thing about sawflies is that, even though the larvae look like caterpillars, they are actually wasps. This is important to remember when...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Top Five Reasons to Garden for Native Bees (Or: A Plug for Our May 16 Workshops)
This is a guest post by our Research Associate Elsa Youngsteadt. Lately, folks have been calling us “The Bee People.” We like this title. Although maybe we could be “The Native-Bee People,” just to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oak lecanium scale eggs hatching soon
Oak lecanium scale ovisac full of eggs ready to hatch. Photo: SD Frank Right on schedule oak lecanium scales are full of eggs. Last year I wrote a post all about oak lecanium eggs on May 8 so I won’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Aphids and natural enemies on tulip poplar
This time of year tulip poplar leaves are covered in aphids. The great thing about aphids is that they attract a diverse array of predators and parasitoids and even fungi. Therefore, after a few weeks...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cottony maple leaf scale eggs
Cottony maple leaf scale, Pulvinaria acericola, ovisacs on dogwood leaves. Photo: SD Frank Cottony maple leaf scales, Pulvinaria acericola, are one of several ‘cottony’ scales in the genus Pulvinaria....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Need a reason to monitor scale insect development? – They produce thousands...
Thousands of oak lecanium scale eggs emptied from an ovisac. Photo: SD Frank Integrated pest management of scale insects requires monitoring female scale to determine when they produce eggs and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Japanese maple scales hatching
Japanese maple scales on dogwood. Photo: SD Frank Japanese maple scale, Lopholeucaspis japonica, is an important pest of nursery and landscape plants. Japanese maple scales feed on dozens of woody...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Exotic caterpillar is a greenhouse pest in Canada – keep your eyes open
Golden twin-spot moth. Perry Hampson, Bugwood.org An exotic caterpillar called the golden twin-spot moth, Chrysodeixis chalcites, is present in some Canadian greenhouses. It is a tropical species but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bugs can be the best teachers
Arthropods have a unique ability to inspire very emotional reactions in people. Some adult naturaphiles appreciate bugs, but reactions more commonly range from mild apathy to acute fear and loathing....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Red-headed flea beetle adults emerging
This weekend my colleague Brian Kunkel from University of Delaware was visiting NC nurseries with help from Cliff Ruth Flea beetle on a rose leaf. Photo: SD Frank and Craig Adkins. He found late instar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crape myrtle aphids turn trees black. Are they bolstered by mosquito sprays?
Crape myrtles are among the most commonly planted trees in the Southeast. The two main pests are crape myrtle bark scale which has not been reported in NC yet but is in Virginia and Tennessee. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tea scale causes yellow spots on camellia leaves…Crawlers hatching now
Tea scale males and females on the underside of a camellia leaf. Photo: SD Frank Tea scale, Fiorinia theae, is common on camellias. It is an armored scale that lives on the underside of leaves. You...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Millions of scale insect predators hatching…careful they look like mealybugs!
Two larvae on willow oak trunk. Photo: SD Frank Yesterday on campus willow oak trees were covered in millions of what looked like mealybugs. But they were faster than mealybugs and constantly moving...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spittlebugs create foamy nests in trees
Small clumps of foam from spittlebugs. Notice yellow nymphs to the right where I moved away some foam. Photo: SD Frank Spittlebugs are a group of insects in the Family Cercopidae (Froghoppers &...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gloomy scale crawlers are active and vulnerable
Adult gloomy scale. Photo: SD Frank Gloomy scale, Melanaspis tenebricosa, is an armored scale that feeds on maples and other tree species. It becomes very abundant on red maples on streets and in...
View Article
