Insects and Pests
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The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is an event that serves to provide an annual snapshot of pollinator population data while educating the public about the importance of pollinators and other beneficial insects. This year’s GSPC will be held August 23-24th and is open to citizens of all ages from Georgia and the Carolinas. Last year,…
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This spring, an influx of unusual tissue growth has been reported from small pecan orchards and hobbyists across Northeast Georgia. This tissue growth has been seen on the pecan stems, leaves, and even developing nutlets across pecan orchards north of I-20. The culprit is phylloxera. Three species of phylloxera affect pecans: pecan phylloxera, pecan leaf…
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About a decade ago, hay producers in Georgia began noticing a decline in their bermudagrass fields characterized by a bronze appearance. This bronze color was caused by the chlorosis and death of the top two to three leaves of the plant, which showed obvious evidence of insect damage and decay when examined more closely.…
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It’s June, and I’m getting an influx of calls related to plant identification, diseases, and insects. If you have a garden, you’re probably familiar with the Japanese beetle, which can cause significant damage to a wide variety of plants. This week, lets talk about these insects and what you can do about them. As…
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For the last thirteen years, Brood XIX, or the Great Southern Brood of periodical cicadas have been living underground as nymphs, feeding on hardwood plant roots. If a mature tree wasn’t present 13 years ago, if the tree was cut down since that time period, or if the tree is not a hardwood species, cicadas…
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Last week I received a call in the office for a couple that had a honey bee swarm at their house and were looking for someone to help remove it. While UGA Extension doesn’t provide bee removal, we do try our best to connect beekeepers with homeowners looking for honey bee removal. Honey bee swarms…
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Pollinators are a vital part of a balanced ecosystem and critical to the well-being of humans. There are over 100,000 different varieties of insects and over 1,000 other species that serve as pollinators. These species are essential for the reproduction of over 225,000 different flowering plant species, including over 150 food crops. The annual value…
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I love the spring and early summer in Georgia—as the days get longer and temperatures get warmer, I spend more and more time outside, whether just hanging out on the screen porch, working on landscaping projects, riding my horse, or hanging out at the boat ramp. This time of year though, I always get the…
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Did you know that your local Extension office can help with the identification of and treatment for common pests? Recently we have had an influx of insect-related questions, so this week, I’d like to share some information about proactive household pest management with you.Insects compose more than 75% of all known animal species and come…
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About two years ago, I wrote an article on a new pest we were seeing in Northeast Georgia named Trichonephila clavata: The East Asian Joro Spider. Since then, UGA and other organizations have invested a lot of time, energy, and research into better understanding this new pest as they have continued to spread and multiply.…
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