New Name:
What you received last year as the Plant Protection Update will now be called the Virginia Entomologist, a title I feel fits better since entomology is the main topic of this newsletter.
Lady beetles
Not much new on this critter although I have had many calls particularly from south-side Virginia. Still the best defense is a good offense. Keep the beetles from the house in the fall and avoid problems next year. Any winterizing this summer will reduce the problem next year. In addition screens and vents in the attic should be inspected. As for the poor folks that have them right now (and your poor ear from hearing about it): spray and or vacuum them up. An aerosol spray for the beetles in the living areas and some type of residual spray in the attic or crawl spaces where the beetles are found will help. All dead beetles will need to be vacuumed up and since this is an effective control simply using the vacuum cleaner as control is the best bet. All beetles in the house now got in last fall and are trying to make their way to the outside when they inadvertently work their way into the living room.
See:
http://everest.ento.vt.edu/Facilities/OnCampus/IDLab/id/ladybeetle.jpg
and
http://everest.ento.vt.edu/Facilities/OnCampus/IDLab/id/ladybeetles.jpg
for images and:
http://everest.ento.vt.edu/Facilities/OnCampus/IDLab/id/id-lady.html
for the fact sheet reprinted below.
LADY BEETLES
The most common one in houses is Harmonia axyridis, the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, also called the "Japanese Lady Beetle".
Hosts: Feeds on tree dwelling aphids in the summer, invades houses in huge numbers each fall looking for an overwintering site. This lady beetle does not carry disease but will bite in rare cases. When crushed it will leave a brown stain.
Natural Overwintering Sites: Fence rows, rock piles, hollow trees, and cliff faces are this lady beetle's preferred overwintering sites. Getting into houses is a fatal mistake because a house has low humidity and these, and most other insects, simply dry out and die. It may take several weeks for them to die so they still create a nuisance as they fly about and collect on the ceiling.
Control: The best control is to keep them out. Conduct an energy audit of the house and seal up all possible openings for heat loss as these beetles will enter the house through cracks in windows and walls and under doors. If they get into the house, sweep them up with a vacuum cleaner and discard the bag often. If you spray, use an aerosol insecticide labeled for household insects but be sure to vacuum up the dead beetles.
Remarks: These beetles are now found in most of the United States and get into houses throughout their range. In one case in Oregon the lady beetles built up to a depth of ONE FOOT in the attic of a house.
Eric Day
Manager, Insect Identification Laboratory
(540) 231-4899
Insect:Host(s) Description Treatment timing*
FRUIT INSECTS
Aphids and Aphid eggs are small, black Treat with a dormant oil
Mites: Many and shiny and are found at the 1/4" green stage for
fruit trees scattered along the twig. aphids and/or at the pre-
Mite eggs are smaller, red pink stage for mites.
and usually found near the
spurs.
Eastern Tent Look for conspicuous egg Pick off and destroy all
Caterpillar: masses on twigs. They will egg masses found: for
Many fruit trees form a dark brown varnished big infestations or large
collar or belt encircling operations, insecticidal
the twigs. sprays later in the spring
may be needed.
ORNAMENTAL INSECTS
Bagworm: Caterpillars form "bags" Pick off and destroy all
Conifers, maples around their bodies, made of bagworms now and/or treat
sycamores, box- silk and plant debris. with an insecticide in mid-
elders, and many They overwinter as eggs June.
others in the bags; the eggs
hatch in late May and
early June.
SEE: http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/bagworm.html
Pales Weevil: If you observed any dead. Drench stumps and near-
Eastern white seedlings, dead shoot tips, by soil with a lindane-
and Scots pine, or small irregular patches kerosene mixture (7 tbs of
Douglas-fir, of exposed wood last 20% EC lindane in one
other pines and summer and attributed gallon of kerosene) to
some spruces them to Pales weevil then kill egg-laying adults.
you will need to treat
this spring.
SEE: http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/paleswee.html
White Pine Look for resinous bleeding Treat only the terminal Weevil: Eastern in March and early April upright leader down to the white pine, on the 8 to 10 inches of first whorl of branches. Do Norway spruce, stem below the terminal not spray the entire tree. Scots pine and leader. Adult weevils Treat before April 1, prior occasionally chew holes in the bark to to egg-laying by adults. other pines feed and lay eggs.
* See Virginia Pest Management Guides for recommendations on insecticides and rates. Use insecticide applications only when high population levels demand control action. Most plants can support small populations of pest insects.
See my lab homepage:
http://www.ento.vt.edu/Facilities/OnCampus/IDInfo.html