Fall armyworms have been spotted in the Wichita area, including the John C. Pair Horticultural Center. Armyworms are foliar feeding caterpillars that can sever turfgrass tillers at the ground level. Recovery is often good after the damage occurs, but be aware that if no attempt at control is used, turf quality will be low for a period of time. Dr. Raymond Cloyd provides details about fall armyworms and their biology and control HERE!
By Raymond Cloyd
This article is featured in the Kansas State University Extension Entomology Newsletter.
Japanese beetle, Popilla japonica, adults are one of the most destructive insect pests of horticultural plants in landscapes and gardens. Japanese beetle adults are present throughout Kansas feeding on many plants including: roses, Rosa spp., littleleaf linden, Tilia cordata, oak, Quercus spp., Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, apple, Malus spp., and grape, Vitis vinifera. The plant protection strategies implemented to manage Japanese beetle adult populations are limited, and have been for many years. The primary strategy has been spraying contact insecticides to kill adults, which will reduce plant damage.
Read more here: July 9, 2021 No 14
By Brooke Garcia
Have you ever wondered how to reduce the chances of being bitten by mosquitos? The K-State Extension Entomology Newsletter has a great post within their June 24th, 2021 No. 12 issues about “How to Avoid Being “Bitten” by Mosquitoes.”
Photo by: Susan Ellis, Bugwood.org
The recent post features:
Read more on the Entomology Newsletter here.
By Brooke Garcia
It was Pollinator Week June 21-27, 2021! How did you take part during Pollinator Week? Perhaps you had an encounter with a buzzy friend in the garden or planted some native perennials that attract pollinators in the landscape.
Celebrating pollinators does not need to be confined to one week only. You can do this in so many unique ways in your personal garden or landscapes you manage or oversee.
Photo taken in David Traylor Zoo of Emporia, KS by Brooke Garcia.
Here are some creative ideas to help attract and celebrate pollinators in our favorite landscapes:
Here are some more ideas featured in the Extension Entomology Newsletter.
These are just a few ways to help support pollinators all year around! Have any pollinator topics you’d like us to feature? Email us at gardenhour@ksu.edu.
By Brooke Garcia
The June 11, 2021 issue of the Extension Entomology Newsletter featured a recent post on Bagworms. The cool weather may have slowed the development of these landscape insect pests, but they are still going to be present this summer in the Kansas landscape on broadleaf and evergreen trees and shrubs.
Learn more in the Entomology Newsletter here: https://entomology.k-state.edu/doc/extension-newsletters/2021/KSInsectNewsletter%2010.pdf
Photo by: William Fountain at the University of Kentucky
By Brooke Garcia
There is a new publications of interest recently updated through K-State Research and Extension by Dr. Raymond Cloyd:
“Magnolia scale, Neolecanium cornuparvum, is an insect pest of magnolia trees including star magnolia, Magnolia stellata, and saucer magnolia, Magnolia x soulangiana. Magnolia scale is native to the U.S. and is the largest soft scale in North America. This publication discusses the biology, damage, and management strategies that can be used to avoid plant damage caused by magnolia scale.”
Read more here: Magnolia Scale: Insect Pest of Magnolia Trees. MF3560. Raymond Cloyd.
Photo Credit: William Fountain, University of Kentucky, Bugwood.org
By Brooke Garcia
Have you been out in the landscape lately and noticed a webbing on mimosa and honeylocust trees? Mimosa Webworm has been very prevalent on both of these trees in Kansas. Their webbing protects them from enemies and the potential of being sprayed by an insecticide. To learn more about the Mimosa Webworm, as well as understanding how to manage this landscape pest, visit the Entomology Blog: https://blogs.k-state.edu/kansasbugs/2020/07/31/mimosa-webworm-3/
By Frannie Miller
This post has been provided by the Extension Entomology e-Newsletter.
This week as I have been out in my own yard and garden I have noticed an abundance of different types of caterpillars. Identification of caterpillars can be difficult because so many of them look really similar, but often if you know what plant they feed upon it will give you a clue.
The first image is of a caterpillar sent to me by a friend asking what it was. She found it feeding on her pansies, which were a hold over plants from spring. These caterpillars are known as pansyworms. They usually grow to be 1 ¼ inches long with a characteristic deep-orange color with black striped sides which feature spines. These caterpillars will take bites out of the leaves, but the resulting variegated fritillary butterfly will add color to the garden.
Panysworm image: Courtesy of Cheryl Boyer
Then I found a few yellowstriped armyworm caterpillars feeding on some of my flowers. I picked them off as I did not want them to feed on those particular plants, but allowed them to feed elsewhere. These caterpillars turn into a somewhat drab grayish-brown moth.
Yellow Striped Armyworm
Finally I spotted a mass of small caterpillars feeding on sunflowers in the garden. The sunflowers were not ones I plants and had come up as volunteer so I have decided to let the caterpillars eat on these plants. It is difficult to for me to identify the exact species from a picture, but they will turn into some sort of checkerspot butterfly.
I have chosen to not use any insecticides to control these particular caterpillars, but options such as Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Btk) and spinosad can be used when caterpillars are small. If you are going to use these products, remember to read and follow the label.
Checkerspot Caterpillar
Sometimes we don’t notice the caterpillars until they are larger and hand picking may become the best control option.
By Brooke Garcia
Japanese beetle is popping up throughout most of Kansas, and it is feeding on many common landscape plants including roses, littleleaf linden, Virginia creeper, and grape. The Extension Entomology e-newletter recently posted a blog that highlights information related to management, chemical treatment, as well as biological information about the beetles. They are one of the most destructive insect pests on horticultural plants, and they cause a lot of problems for professionals and homeowners alike in landscapes and gardens. Raymond Cloyd also notes that, “the larva or grub is a turfgrass insect pest in home lawns, commercial settings, and golf courses.”
To read more, visit the Extension Entomology post, Japanese Beetle Adults Are Here!
Japanese Beetle Adults Feeding On Leaf (Auth–Raymond Cloyd, KSU)
By Lucky Mehra
When it comes to plant health, physical samples are best. However, sometimes it is not practical to send physical samples, such as with large trees or shrubs. A digital sample can be a good alternative or a good first step. By ‘digital sample’ we mean submitting digital images of the plant problem to the KSU plant disease diagnostic clinic.
Consider the following tips to take the photos and provide all the relevant information to help us diagnose the problem quickly and correctly.
Pictures
The main component of a ‘digital sample’ is the set of digital images itself. Take the following types of pictures to help us understand both the ‘big’ and ‘small’ picture of the problem. Make sure that the plant or plant part is in focus when taking pictures. Some phones are pretty good at auto focus, but most of the time you will need to tap on the screen at the point of interest to guide your camera to focus at a particular point.
Fig. 1. The Hawthorn tree in the foreground has leaf spots. This image is to give an overall view of the landscape. For example, proximity of the tree to the concrete and adjoining trees.
Fig. 2. Affected leaves of the hawthorn tree.
Fig. 3. An example of close-up images of a hawthorn leaf (top side of leaf on the left, and underside of leaf on the right) with yellow spots taken with a phone camera, without any additional lens attachment.
Additional essential information
Sometimes, the plant problem is very peculiar, and it is easy to identify by just looking at the photos you submit (e.g. yellow spots on hawthorn leaves shown above are the symptoms of Cedar-hawthorn rust); however, most of the time it is not possible to diagnose a problem only based on photos. We need much more information from you to help us with the correct diagnosis. Provide as much information as you can. Please see below for the type of information that will be useful to us when making the diagnosis.
Site history and pattern
Make sure to provide information about the site where the shrub or tree is located. That information may include soil type if known, soil pH, slope, distance to the concrete sidewalk or road etc.
Are there any drainage problems? Is this the only plant affected? Are other plants of the same species affected? If yes, what is the pattern of these plants in the landscape i.e. is there a cluster of affected plants or the distribution is random? Are other plant species affected?
Plant pattern
Tell us about the affected plant part whether it is leaf, stem, flower, twig, stem or root. Additionally, report the location of symptoms on the plant. Some problems tend to occur on younger leaves, others are specific to older leaves. All this information can help us rule out some issues and narrow down the diagnosis.
Timing of the symptom appearance.
Was there any weather event such as temperature (too hot or too cold) or moisture extremes (e.g. heavy rainfall) prior to the symptom development. We can download these data from a local weather station as well, however, rainfall events can be non-uniform over the whole area covered by a weather station. So if you have onsite information about the weather data, report it to us.
Chemical history
Any history of chemical or fertilizer application should be provided. This can help the diagnostician in figuring out if the problem is arising due to chemical exposure or due to a biotic agent.
This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
