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Pest Activity -- March 30, 2007Pest Activity > March 30 Welcome to the Woody Ornamental Pest Scouting Report for Western Pennsylvania brought to you by Penn State Cooperative Extension. This report is updated weekly with growing degree day counts and insect activity through the end of June. If you would like an email copy of this report, send your request to mcm2@psu.edu.As of March 28, the following growing degree days with a base temperature of 50 degrees have accumulated.
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Overwintering Cooley Spruce Gall Adelgids observed this past week on Douglas-fir in Allegheny County are continuing to produce the white waxy strands prior to molting. If you decide to use an insecticide to control this pest, now is the time for application, before they are protected by the white waxy excretions. The list of currently labeled insecticides for use in Pennsylvania on Douglas -fir can be found here. |
Eastern Tent Caterpillar
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Eastern Tent Caterpillar eggs should begin to hatch this week in the more southern parts of SW Pennsylvania and the City of Pittsburgh. Physical removal of the egg masses is the easiest control method when they can reached from the ground. Eastern tent caterpillar's primary host plants are wild cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), apple (Malus) and crabapple (Malus). Occasionally, they feed on deciduous forest and ornamental trees such as ash (Fraxinus), birch (Betula), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), willow (Salix), witchhazel (Hamamelis), maple (Acer), oak (Quercus), poplar (Populus), peach (Prunus), and plum (Prunus). |
Hemlock Rust Mite
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Hemlock Rust Mites have hatched and adults are active in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties at this time. |
| OTHER PESTS | Bittercress Now is the time to take action if you are managing lesser-seeded bittercress in the landscape. This winter-annual weed has become a nuisance in many landscape beds in Southwest Pennsylvania and can rapidy increase in number through prolific seed production. Hand-weeding is always an option with this plant as is the use of a contact herbicide, such as Reward, or a systemic herbicide like Round-up Pro. The contact herbicide will shut the plant down quicker than the systemic, but both materials need a 2 hour window of dry weather for absorption. |
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Global Worming While attending a conference in North Carolina this summer, I met a hosta enthusiast from the eastern part of Pennsylvania that asked what I knew about "alien worms." Since that time, I have been exposed to a few articles and had conversations with local ecologists regarding local worm populations. Some of the ideas we have had regarding the benefits of earthworms in garden soils are being re-evaluated. I recently heard a podcast on Science Friday with Ira Flatow discussing this topic from a scientific perspective with Bill Chameides, the Chief Scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund in New York. The original podcast is from Friday, March 23, 2007, and titled "Earthworms" http://www.sciencefriday.com/feed/ |
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The next scouting report will be on April 6, 2007 .
