Red imported fire ants

 

Red imported fire ants are a non-native species that originate from South America.  They were accidentally introduced in Mobile, AL in the 1930’s.  Ships used soil as ballast as a method of stabilization, and it’s thought that fire ants were unknowingly in ballast removed from South American ships.  From Mobile, fire ants spread in the southern U.S., entering Texas in the 1950’s.

Fire ants bite and sting and can sting multiple times.  The stinger, located on the tip of the abdomen, injects venom that can cause pain, burning and/ or redness. The sting area develops into a small pustule within a few days.  The pustule may itch and is sterile, unless it is broken open by scratching, which then may lead to secondary infection. Some people may develop an allergic reaction to fire ant stings/ venom. Allergic reactions can vary in severity with some causing life-threatening anaphylaxis. If you have concerns over non-typical reactions after being stung by fire ants, seek medical attention.

Ways to manage fire ants can be broken into two basic categories- broadcast treatments and individual mound treatments.  Individual mound treatments treat one mound at a time and are labor intensive, requiring you to search and find every fire ant mound for treatment and can result in more pesticide being applied to the environment.  Broadcast treatments spread product (granular or bait) over a large area using specialized equipment.

With any pesticide treatment, read and follow all label instructions.  Make sure to water in the pesticide if the label instructs you to do so.  Failure to water in chemicals when recommended by the label does an inadequate job of killing the ants.  Baits should not be watered in or used before a rainfall event; baits will not be picked up by ants if they get wet.

How to identify ant and termite swarmers

With warm temperatures being more regular, swarming insects will soon arrive on the scene.  This is a common springtime- and sometimes fall- occruence where reproductives emerge from their colonies and fly into the air in search of a mate.  This most often happens on warm days after a significant rainfall event, but for some species like Formosan termites, they may swarm at night.

“Swarmer” or “alate” are terms used to describe the reproductive stage of ants and termites.  Swarmers have wings when they initially leave the colony, but wings are either shed or chewed off once they land on the ground but before they form a new colony.  So, how do you tell ant and termite swarmers apart?

There are three morphological characteristics to look for.

1.     Antennae

2.     “Waist” – where the thorax and abdomen join

3.     Wings- if the insect still has them

Ant swarmers have antennae that are bent at a ninety-degree angle and are said to be “elbowed”.  The “waist” area is constricted, narrowed, or pinched.  If you find a reproductive that still has wings- they chew off their wings once they have mated and land on the ground- the front wing will be larger than the hind wing.  Ant wings will also have few wing veins. If wings are missing from the ant swarmer, there will not be a wing stub left on the thorax from where the wing was attached.  Male ant swarmers retain their wings after landing on the ground, but they die after mating.

 

                        

Fire ant swarmer (female) without wings.     Fire ant swarmer (male) with wings.

 

Termite swarmers have antennae that are straight and a thorax-abdomen area, or “waist”, that is broadly joined together.  Termite reproductive wings are similar in size and shape and tend to have a lot of veins.  Sometimes with termites you may find only wings that have been left behind due to shedding when the termites land on the ground or you may see the termites themselves with or without wings still attached.  If you find a termite reproductive without wings, there will be wing stubs, called “scales”, left behind on the thorax. Male and female termite reproductives shed their wings after landing on the ground, pair up, and find a site to begin a new colony.

 

Termite swarmers with and without wings.

Texas leafcutting ants

Texas leafcutting ants, Atta texana, are a native Texas species that create large, extensive colonies. Colonies often have multiple volcano or crater-shaped mounds with a central opening clustered in a single area.  Leafcutting ant mounds (see image) can be mistaken for fire ant mounds, but fire ant mounds do NOT have a centralized opening.

Workers are the most commonly seen leafcutting ants, but in spring it is possible to see reproductives, or swarmers.  Workers (see image) are medium to large ants, reddish-brown in color and have three pairs of spines on the thorax and one pair of spines on the back of the head.  Workers come in various sizes but can be up to ½ an inch long.  Reproductives look similar to worker ants but are much larger in size, with females being over an inch long. Mated queens have a special area within their mouth to carry fungal spores used to create a fungus garden in their newly founded nest.

Leafcutting ants typically forage when temperatures are cooler.  During this time of year, that can have them out in the middle of the day, but during the summer they tend to forage at night or in the morning. Workers remove leaves and buds from plants in the landscape; they then chew the plant material and get some nutrition from sap, but mainly place chewed leaves in an underground garden within their colony.  The chewed plant material is a base to grow fungus which the ants eat. Leafcutting ants tend a particular species of fungus and weed out any other fungus from their garden.

Colonies (see image) may exist for years and can exceed over two million ants.  It is not unusual for a single colony to cover an acre of land.  Colonies are usually found in well drained, sandy or loamy soils and are more common in Central to East Texas than other parts of the state.

Unfortunately, leafcutting ants can be difficult to manage, and almost impossible to eradicate completely.  Prized plants can be temporarily protected by using spray adhesives around the base of the plant, but adhesives need to be refreshed often when dirt and/or debris accumulates.  Temporary protection can also be provided to prized plants by utilizing contact insecticidal sprays or dusts labeled for “ants”.  These insecticidal products can also be used along foraging trails and openings where the ants go into the ground.  If mounds are present, Amdro Ant Block, which is the only product labeled for use against leafcutting ants, can be broadcast with a hand-held spreader around the mound area.  Do not use ant bait and residual dusts and/or sprays in the same area since pesticidal dusts and sprays will contaminate bait and cause the ants not to pick it up.

When managing leafcutting ants, set expectations at managing, not eradicating.  Often when you treat, you’ll knock back a portion of the worker population, but the colony will remain.

This work is supported by the USDA-NIFA Extension Implementation Program, project award no. 2024-70006-43508, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

Springtails

 

Springtails are very small, primitive arthropods that are commonly found in soil, leaf litter, and other areas of moisture.  They are wonderful for compost piles as decomposers that feed on decaying vegetation, fungi, algae, lichen, and bacteria, breaking the items down into usable nutrients.

Springtails can reach up to 10 mm but most are around 1-2 mm in size.  They have various body shapes and colors, six legs and are wingless. Springtails get their name from the way that they propel themselves forward through the air.  Most springtails have a forked organ called the furcula that comes off the tip of the abdomen.  The furcula can be curled under the body and hook into an organ called the retinaculum.  When the furcula is released from the retinaculum, it pushes the springtail up and into the air making it look as if it’s jumping.

Springtails are often drawn to areas of moisture which can lead them into ponds, swimming pools, potted plants, or well-watered raised beds.  While typically found outdoors, they can move indoors with plants or in search of areas of moisture such as a water leak.

If springtails are outdoors, leave them as they are essential decomposers.  If you find them indoors, it is a signal that there is a moisture issue nearby; seek out and remedy the source of moisture to make the area less habitable for any springtails.

This work is supported by the USDA-NIFA Extension Implementation Program, project award no. 2024-70006-43508, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

Entomology Advanced Training for Master Gardeners & Master Naturalists

 

The regular, week long training has been cancelled for 2020 due to COVID, but we are hosting a four part online Zoom training for you to get your entomology fix!

Time for each meeting: 6-7:30pm

October 6 - Entomology 101 & How to ID Common Insect Orders
October 7 - Native Pollinators & Pollinator Gardening
October 13 - Veggie Pest Management
October 14 - Landscape and Ornamental Pest Management

Presenters include: Molly Keck, Erfan Vafaie, Wizzie Brown

Register here:
https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/organizationListings/11

Cost is $25 for all four sessions.  Presentations will be live and interactive with the presenters, as well as recorded for later viewing.  Registrants will receive a book and materials relating to sessions.

Cicada killer wasps emerging in Central Texas

Over the past week I've been getting questions on large wasps that people are seeing emerging from the ground.  They want to know what they are and be reassured that they are not the Asian giant hornet.  These wasps are known as cicada killers and are aptly named.  Cicada killers are large wasps, reaching around 1.5 inches.  They have a rusty colored head and thorax with a black and yellow patterned abdomen.  The wings are also rusty in color, but transparent.

Cicada killer wasps are solitary, but multiple wasps may be seen in the same area at times.  Males are known for aggressively defending their territory and patrolling burrows created underground. While males dive bomb someone who walks into their territory, they are incapable of stinging.  Female cicada killers are capable of stinging, but generally reserve their stinger for paralyzing prey and tend to only sting in defense.

Adult wasps feed on nectar and tree sap while immatures feed on cicadas.  Adult female wasps locate a cicada, sting it causing the cicada to become paralyzed and then carry it back to the tunnel created in the ground.  She drags the cicada into the tunnel and to a nesting chamber.  Each chamber is provisioned with 1-2 cicadas before the female lays an egg on the leg of the cicada and seals up the chamber.  Once the egg hatches, the wasp larva eats the provided cicadas, overwintering in the ground as a mature larva, and pupating the following year to emerge again when cicadas are available.

Tunnels are about a foot deep and about 2 feet long with 3-4 chambers off to the sides for provision cicadas for larvae.

These wasps are considered to be beneficial, so no control is recommended.  If you feel that you need to manage them, you can:
1. Use clear plastic tarp over the tunnel area to solarize
2. Sprinkle and insecticidal dust around the tunnel opening and tamp it down with your foot

"Murder" ?! Hornet Sensationalism

What headline can draw people away from their thoughts dwelling on the current state of the world and Coronavirus?  That would be MURDER HORNETS!  I cannot think of a more sensationalized headline, so kudos to whomever came up with that attention grabber.  This headline is popping up everywhere from social media outlets, television, newspapers, and others. Quite frankly, it makes me cringe each time I see it.

Let's begin with the terminology "murder" hornet.  The definition of murder is "the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another".  If we take the human part out of the definition, since I think we all can agree that while hornets are animals, they are NOT human, we still need to deal with the premeditated part. Are the hornets plotting the death of others; nefariously sitting in their lairs thinking about how to best take out a population of insects?  Ummmm...most likely not. Yes, the hornets are capable of killing other insects, including pollinators, but they are not doing this to be vicious or killing for sport. The hornets use insects they kill as food for their larvae....just like other wasps that we have here in Texas. Moving on to the next thing......

We do not have Asian giant hornets in Texas!  Let me repeat that.  WE DO NOT HAVE ASIAN GIANT HORNETS IN TEXAS!  Since this article was released, I have been contacted numerous times with people who think that they have seen or have the wasps living in their backyard.  No.  Please, by all means, if you think that you have these wasps, then take photos, collect samples and get in touch with me as I am happy to identify the samples for you, but as of right now, no one has sent me anything that actually is an Asian giant hornet.  I've been getting paper wasps, mud daubers, and cicada killers.  Cicada killers are the most likely wasps we have in Texas that could (in my opinion) be confused with the Asian hornet because cicada killers are very large...about 1.5 inches.  Cicada killer wasps are not new to Texas and are pretty common.  You can find more information on them in this previous blog post:

http://urban-ipm.blogspot.com/2015/07/cicada-killers.html

Here is a link to a pest tracker site from Purdue University that confirms these are NOT established in the US. 

https://pest.ceris.purdue.edu/pest.php?code=ISBIBWA

FACTS about Asian giant hornets
1. Asian giant hornets are Vespa mandarinia NOT "murder" hornets.  "Murder" hornets is not even an accepted common name for this species but something that someone made up as a catchy headline....and it apparently worked really well.
2. These wasps are around 2 inches in length and are capable of stinging which can inflict a painful sting.  Please note that while the sting can lead to death in some cases, this is not what typically happens. I want to remind everyone that people can also die from being stung by honey bees, paper wasps, yellowjackets, or even fire ants....it just depends on the number of stings and how your body chemistry reacts.
3. Asian giant hornets have an orangish head, brown antennae with a the base of the antennae being yellow-orange, brown to black eyes and ocelli (simple eyes). The thorax is dark brown with greyish wings and the abdomen has alternating bands of brownish-black and yellow-orange.

FACTS about Asian giant hornets in North America
1.  A colony was found late last year (September 2019) in Nanaimo, British Columbia on Vancouver Island.  The colony was located and destroyed.
2.  A sighting and dead specimen was found in Washington state in December 2019 in Blaine, WA.  This was the first reported sighting of the Asian giant hornet in the U.S.
3. It is currently unknown how the hornets entered the U.S. and genetic testing leads to the conclusion that the hornets found in BC & WA are two separate introductions.
4. Agencies are currently monitoring & trapping with lures to discover any queens or workers. They are talking about attaching radio tracking collars to captured wasps to track them back to the nest.

Emerald Ash Borer- FREE webinar!!

2019 All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar on Emerald Ash Borer

When: Friday, March 1 1:00 pm Central time

To Join: https://auburn.zoom.us/j/615766171. 

The Emerald Ash Borer  is responsible for millions of dead ash trees in North America causing homeowners, cities, and nurseries many millions of dollars and heartache. Come learn where this exotic pest came from, its life cycle, and management plans being implemented.   This webinar is presented by Lynne Womack, Georgia Forestry Commission. 

Note: on March 1,  the link to the live webinar opens about 15 minutes before the webinar. If you try to log in earlier, you will get an error message. 

For more webinars in this series, see 2019 All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar Series:  https://articles.extension.org/pages/74786/2019-all-bugs-good-and-bad-webinar-series.  The webinars are brought to you by the following: eXtension Communities of Practice: Ant Pests, and Urban IPM; and by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Clemson Cooperative Extension and University of Georgia Extension.

Amazing beetle tattoo

So those of you who really know me, are aware that I have beetle tattoos all over my back.  Well, I have been outdone.  This tattoo is amazing and to be honest, makes me a bit jealous.....

The Legend of the Christmas Spider

I know what you are thinking....spiders?!  At Christmas?! Spiders are for Halloween.  Well, not in all parts of the world.  There are stories in Eastern Europe, usually from the Ukraine, that tell of a Christmas spider and people will include a spider ornament on their Christmas tree.


There is more than one story out there, so you can choose your favorite.

Version One:

A poor but hardworking widow once lived in a small hut with her children. One summer day, a pine cone fell on the earthen floor of the hut and took root. The widow's children cared for the tree, excited at the prospect of having a Christmas tree by winter. The tree grew, but when Christmas Eve arrived, they could not afford to decorate it. The children sadly went to bed and fell asleep. Early the next morning, they woke up and saw the tree covered with cobwebs. When they opened the windows, the first rays of sunlight touched the webs and turned them into gold and silver. The widow and her children were overjoyed. From then on, they never lived in poverty again.

Version Two:
A long time ago a mother was cleaning for Christmas. Spiders fled up to the attic to escape the broom. On quiet Christmas Eve, the spiders slowly came down for a peek.  "Oh, what a beautiful tree!" In excitement, they scurried up and out along each branch. They were filled with happiness as they climbed amongst the glittering beauty. But alas! By the time they were done, the tree was shrouded in their dusty, grey web. When Santa came with gifts for the children and saw the tree covered with spider webs, he smiled because he saw how happy the spiders were, but knew how heartbroken the mother would be if she saw it covered in dusty webs.  So he turned the webs into strands of silver and the tree was even more beautiful than before. That's the story of tinsel on trees and why every tree should have a Christmas spider in its branches.

Version Three:
The story is about two mothers—one a peasant woman, the other a mama spider—both struggling to provide for their young children. On Christmas Eve, the woman went into the forest and came back with a small fir to serve as a Christmas tree. She discovered that a spider had made a home for her babies among the fir’s branches, but the woman didn’t have the heart to sweep them away. The spider discovered that the woman was too poor to decorate the tree, let alone place presents beneath it, and hatched a plan out of gratitude and kindness. Later that night, when the woman and her children went to bed, the spider spun sparkling webs all throughout the fir tree’s branches. In the morning, the children woke up to the thrilling sight of a Christmas tree draped in the most exquisite, shimmering gossamer!

Do you have a spider ornament on your tree?  Of course, I have TWO on mine....one on a web and the other by itself.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!!

2018 Holiday Gift Wish List

It's that time of year again!  Do you have an arthropod lover in your family?  If so, then here are some great gift ideas!

Metal "beetle" art piece by Paul Sumner.

First up is an art piece that I find utterly charming.  The artist is Paul Sumner and you can find his work here. I think that he calls his pieces beetles, but I think they look more like cockroaches (big shock why I love them....).  I found this one particularly unique because it is made from a can of Black Flag insecticide.  What can be more ironic?

Cicada brooch by Molly Burgess Designs.

The next one is fiber art cicada brooch by Molly Burgess Designs.  You can find her items on both Instagram and Etsy.  She has both larger plush items that you can hang on the wall, or smaller plush items that can be worn as a brooch.  She also takes custom orders if you are interested in that.  I am awaiting the piece that I ordered from her and very much looking forward to it!

Bee spoon ring by Spoonier.

Item number three is a piece of jewelry- a bee spoon ring- from an artist that I purchased from earlier in the year (my items had a dragon and griffin on them instead of insects).  Spoonier takes antique spoons and turns them into spoon rings and bracelets.  You can find their items for sale on Etsy, but you can also follow them on Instagram.

Plush spider by Alvamade Toys.

Alvamade Toys makes plush toys and sells on Etsy.  I love her plush spiders!  You can also follow her on Instagram here.  She not only makes plush spider toys, but also other items such as Pokemon, mushrooms, owls, raccoons, pigs, cows, and various other creatures.

Butterfly wing pendant by Elemental Urchin.

If you are looking for a necklace charm, Elemental Urchin has created beautiful pendants that encase butterfly wings.  She also has some really cute whales, octopodes, and other creatures.  You can buy her items on Etsy and follow here on Instagram here.

Pillbugs by Art by Ariel.

The next item is another clever piece of art that my husband came across. It's from Art by Ariel and she sells on Society 6 here and you can follow her on Instagram here.  I love the print because it's such a good pun.....get it? .....Pillbugs.....

Yellies! by Hasbro.

The last item is mass-produced, but still fantastic.  One of the "hot toys" of the season is called a Yellies!  It's a mechanical plush spider, but that's not all.  Apparently, the more you yell at it, the faster it moves.  That's some serious therapy for arachnophobes out there!


Here's hoping that you have a wonderful holiday season!

Rain and imported fire ants

So last time I posted about rain and mosquitoes.  I thought I needed to follow up that post with one on rain and imported fire ants, especially since it's still raining.

I've been getting a fair number of inquiries about imported fire ants as of late.  There are usually two categories of questions that I've been fielding:

1. What happens to fire ants when it floods?

2. How do I control all the fire ants that are popping up?

I have covered both of these topics before and they are also covered on other sites with great information, so I will link you to sources for more information.

Question 1

Flooding and fire ants from a previous blog post

Scientific American article on how fire ants form rafts to survive floods

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Disaster Education Network article on fire ants after flooding

Question 2

Do you have fire ants? from a previous blog post- covers different basic types of treatments

Baiting for fire ants in the fall also from a previous blog post

Treating fire ants in certain backyard situations also from a previous blog post- this one covers "odd" areas like veggie gardens, compost bins, etc.

IPM action plan for fire ants from eXtension.org

REMEMBER!! DO NOT TREAT FOR FIRE ANTS WHEN IT IS RAINING!!