Honeydew! (not the melon...)

Have you stood under a tree recently and felt "raindrops" falling onto you?  Or maybe you've discovered your car or patio furniture covered in a sticky mess?  Or, maybe similar to my experience....you're walking the dog and walk across a part of the sidewalk that causes your shoes to stick?  This is all from honeydew and it seems to be covering Central Texas at the moment.

Aphids being tended by acrobat ants.

Honeydew is the plant sugars that pass through the digestive track of aphids, so to put it bluntly- aphid poop.  Honeydew is sticky and can look like shiny droplets covering surface.  When you have a large population of aphids, then more honeydew is produced and that's when things get messy.  To make things even messier, honeydew can attract a fungus called sooty mold.  Sooty mold is black and grows on the honeydew covered areas.

So why all the honeydew now?  Just think of it as the perfect storm for aphids.  Remember back in July when we had all the rain and it was pouring every day for almost a week?  Wouldn't that be nice right about now?  I digress...so it's possible that the weather knocked down populations of natural enemies of aphids.  Yes, it would have knocked down the populations of aphids too, but aphids have the capability of reproducing rapidly and they do a much better job and increasing their population than their natural enemies.  When the natural enemies aren't available to keep the population down to a suitable level, the aphid population explodes and goes to town feeding on trees (and other plants) and creating honeydew and causing a huge mess.

If you are dealing with aphids and/ or honeydew right now, I would suggest blasting them with a high pressure water spray.  That suggestion may or may not be feasible for you depending on how tall the tree is that you are dealing with.  Treating the tree with an insecticide to reduce the aphid population is really not recommended, but if you feel that you MUST treat with an insecticide, then please hire a professional that has proper application equipment and BE AWARE OF DRIFT!

Veggie Pests & Spiders- Upcoming Programs

I have two programs coming up that are open to the public.  Here are the details:

Veggie Pests
When: September 23, 2011 (Friday) 10-11 AM
Where: 1600-B Smith Road Austin, TX 78721
Description: Identification & management of common veggie pests.
Cost: FREE


Spiders
When: October 7, 2011 (Friday) 10-11 AM
Where: 1600-B Smith Road Austin, TX 78721
Description: Identification of common spiders.
Cost: FREE

No need to RSVP, just show up for the program that you want to attend. 
The programs are available for Travis County Master Gardener educational hours (1 hour for each class).
For more information on the programs call me, Wizzie Brown at 512-854-9600.

Pecan Weevils (Central Texas)

Pecan harvest is under way and I was recently contacted by a colleague who handles all things pecan. Pecan weevil has not been recorded before from Travis County (and several other counties...see map below), so we're asking you to be our eyes in the field. If you suspect pecan weevil, please contact me.
Look for BB size exit holes in pecans.

Pecan weevil adults are brownish beetles about 3/8 of an inch long with long snouts. Larvae (grubs) are creamy-white with a brownish head capsule.

Adult weevils become active in late August- early September. Both adult male and female weevils can damage nuts by feeding on or laying eggs (females) on pecans.

After mating, females chew a hole in a pecan shell and deposit their eggs inside. Larvae feed and develop inside the pecan shell. Full grown larvae then chew out of the shell and drop to the ground to create a cell in the soil. Full grown larvae and adults spend the winter in the soil about 4-12 inches deep.

For more information on pecan weevil biology, please see the Texas AgriLife Extension Service publication.

Again, if you live in a county on the map above that is not red (without pecan weevils being confirmed) and you suspect that you may have them, please contact me. I would need to come out and collect suspected damaged pecans and record the GPS coordinates. Images are from Bill Ree- thanks Bill!