CHICAGO – This year's early warm weather is expected to breed an onslaught of elm leaf beetles, rose aphids, boxwood leafminers, chinch bugs and ticks across the country.
A national survey of county extension agents conducted by Bayer Advanced™ identified these creatures as the most problematic insects that will be bugging the U.S. this summer.
The Bug Boom Forecast is relevant to lawn care professionals as it predicts the prevalence of those pests they will be treating for. According to Neil Cleveland, turf and ornamental market manager for Bayer™, "Lawn and tree care professionals can really use this information to their advantage. Essentially, consumers have been given a heads-up from a non-biased third party about which pests they need to look out for."
"This presents a unique selling opportunity for professionals to step in and offer preventive treatments to protect lawns and ornamentals from these pests," he continued.
The following is a look at the insects will be prevalent in the U.S. this season:
Elm Leaf Beetles
Elm leaf beetles are commonly found in Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, California and Nevada. They feed almost exclusively on new leaves of elm trees – especially Chinese, Siberian and American varieties – by chewing small, round, irregular holes in the leaf (skeletonizing), allowing only the vein to remain. When damage is severe, leaves curl, dry and fall out prematurely. The foliage feeding significantly weakens the tree, resulting in more susceptibility to branch dieback, attacks of bark beetles and borers and Dutch Elm disease.
Adult elm leaf beetles have a one-quarter inch oval shape. Their color varies from yellow when young, to olive green when mature, with a black stripe along the outer edge of the wings. Natural enemies include birds, toads, diseases and parasitic insects. But you can't depend on nature to save elms from these damaging insects. Here are some simple guidelines to help keep elm leaf beetles at bay:
Rose Aphids
Growing roses in the Pacific Northwest may be difficult this season due to a significant rise in the number of rose aphids. You'll recognize rose aphids by their long dark legs, long antennae and honey tubes, with green bodies. Adults may have wings.
Typically present in large numbers, aphids literally suck the sap from leaves and buds of plants, leaving leaves curled, distorted and stunted. The rose-loving creatures secrete honeydew, a shiny, sticky substance that drips over the plant parts and attracts ants. Often, a harmless but ugly black fungus (sooty mold) grows on the sticky secretion.
Aphids move from plant to plant and regenerate quickly, hence the need for speed in protecting precious plants. While parasitic wasps, lady beetles and green lacewing prey on rose aphids, that may not be enough this season. These simple tips can help reduce rose aphids:
Boxwood Leafminers
Luckily boxwood leafminers appear only once a year in the Mid-Atlantic states of Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina. However, boxwood leafminers can heavily damage new and old bushes by infesting the foliage.
These minute insects are as tiny as a pinhead so you can't see them with the naked eye. Adult females insert their eggs through the epidermis of new leaves. After hatching, the leafminers feed within the leaves, causing unsightly blisters to appear. Damage may not show up until winter, long after the leafminer has attacked.
Infested plants can become sickly and unappealing, and they're slow to recover because they grow at an extremely slow pace.
Chinch Bugs
Floridians know that chinch bugs crave grass stems and foliage and that summer's hot and dry weather is prime feeding time for a chinch lawn-eating frenzy. Chinch bugs thrive in dry yards, eating away at the grass and causing it to die, usually in a circular pattern. As they progress outward, the circle gets larger. First the grass turns yellow, then brown and straw-like.
Try this experiment to determine if chinch bugs are munching on a lawn:
1. Cut out both ends of a tin can, such as a coffee can. At the outer edge of the circle of dead grass, push the can halfway into the ground so that half the grass inside the can is healthy, the other half dead.
2. Slowly fill the can with water until it is about an inch from the top. Don't let it overflow. Continue to add water as it is absorbed into the soil.
3. If the infestation is heavy, the insects should abandon ship almost immediately and rise to the surface. While the chinch test should only take a minute or so, for best results wait five minutes.
If chinch bugs surface, you'll recognize them by their combination of clearish white and red coloring. Adults have white wings and a black head, with no red markings. Although, ladybugs are known to feed on chinch bugs, don't rely on mother nature. This season you may need additional treatment. Follow these simple steps to a lush lawn:
Ticks
If you live in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas or Tennessee, chances are you'll be spotting more ticks this season. Ticks are tricky to control; the hardest part is avoiding reinfestation.
The eight-legged parasites have a dark brown or reddish brown color and leathery-bodies. Ticks like spending time close to the ground. There are hundreds of types of ticks on the planet. The deer tick is one of the most common and is about the size of the head of a pin when it first hatches. It can carry Lyme disease, especially those in New England and parts of the Midwest. The average tick can grow to as much as a half-inch.
People should check themselves carefully, especially after walking through wooded areas. If ticks are found, use tweezers to grab the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull it off in one motion. Any remaining tick parts should be removed using a sterile needle or pin. Once the tick is removed, throw it back outside or flush it down the toilet. Don't crush it in your hands.
Follow these simple guidelines for controlling ticks:
If you live in or near a wooded area, treat the perimeter of your home with a control product.
Completing each of these actions simultaneously is the best way to avoid reinfestation.
SOURCE: Bayer Advanced™ and Bayer™