Tag Archives: Insects

News, February 26: NY helps MD fight EAB

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The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets announced Monday that they were responding to Maryland’s call for help from neighboring states to deal with Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus planipennis in that state. Although the the presence of EAB in Maryland was confirmed only in August of last year, it’s believed to have been introduced by an illegal shipment of infested ash trees from Michigan, a quarantine state for EAB, as far back as 2003.

New York is already dealing with Asian Long-Horned Beetle (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis. New York is sending 11 New York horticulture inspectors and 17 foresters.

… In December 2006, the Maryland Department of Agriculture asked neighboring states for assistance in conducting an inventory of ash trees, identifying infested trees and assisting with the removal of infested trees. A contingent of 11 New York horticulture inspectors and 17 New York foresters will be working with their counterparts in Maryland to quickly isolate and remove infested trees.
…
New York’s participation will provide Maryland with experienced plant pest regulatory officials knowledgeable in tree identification, the target pest and landowner interactions. In return, New York inspectors and foresters will have the opportunity to observe an actual EAB infestation and gain valuable knowledge and experience that will enhance the surveillance and early detection of this pest in New York State.

– Emerald Ash Borer Detected in Maryland; New York State Helps in Eradication

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via Invasive Species Weblog

Marie’s Garden, Saratoga, NY, August 26, 2006

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[Updated 2006.08.29, 07:20 EDT: Added descriptions to remaining images. Added link to Bug Guide.]

Some beauty shots for my photo fans. All photos were taken this past Saturday, August 26 in Marie’s garden in Saratoga in upstate New York. The link on this post will take you to the flickr photo set of these pictures.

The following four images of insects are all cropped down from the original full frame to zoom in on the detail. I browsed and searched the photos on Bug Guide to identify the beetles.

Stiretrus anchorago, Anchor Stink Bug, on Goldenrod, Front ViewStiretrus anchorago, Anchor Stink Bug, on Goldenrod, Rear View

Stiretrus anchorago, Anchor Stink Bug, on Goldenrod, front and rear views. This guy was moving rapidly over the stalks, dipping his proboscis into each individual flower. I presume he/she/it was feeding on nectar from the flowers.

Megacyllene robiniae, Locust Borer, on Goldenrod

Megacyllene robiniae, Locust Borer, on Goldenrod. I apologize for this one being out of focus. This guy was also moving very quickly around on the goldenrod. This was the best shot I got.

Death in the Garden

Death in the garden. Taking a cue from Bev’s Phymata post, this stationary fly caught my eye. Not to mention that none of his/her/its feet were actually resting on the plant. This was a difficult depth-of-field situation. Again, I took several different shots with the focus on different plane in the image. This one gave me the best results overall, though parts are still clearly out of focus.

The rest of these images are presented full frame and unedited.

Phlox

Phlox.

Bark of Silver Maple

Silver maple bark with lichens.

Lichen on Rock

Lichen on a rock.

Black Walnut Foliage

Black walnut leaflets. Only these leaflets at the end of the leaf had turned red. The rest of the tree was still green.

Insects: Lygaeus kalmii, Small Milkweed bug

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Lygaeus kalmii, Small Milkweed Bug, on unidentified flower in Garden #4, Flatbush, Brooklyn, NYC. Photos taken: July 3, 2006


I noticed this critter for the first time earlier this year. I’d never seen it before. The red and black markings are so striking, especially the black heart on the red back, I thought it should be well-known and easily identifiable.

I took some earlier, bad photos, but lucked out with these. Still not as crisp as I would like. It was difficult to photograph, since I had to get so close with the lens and it kept moving around. Guessing that it was in the Order Hemiptera, the “true bugs”, I found some matching photos on Bug Guide, which identified it as Lygaeus kalmii, Small Milkweed Bug.

L. kalmii is in the Lygaeidae Family, the seed bugs. Milkweed bugs eat, incredibly, milkweed seeds. I’ve said the flowers above are “unidentified,” since I simply scattered some extra seed in that spot in the garden this spring and didn’t label it. But now that I think of it, I did have seed of some Ascelpias species, so this is probably one of them. Insects helping me identify what I planted in the garden … I like that.

The black and red-orange coloration is shared among many species which feed on milkweed, including Monarch butterflies. It’s a warning to predators, such as birds, that they taste bad, from concentrating bitter compounds from the milkweeds in their bodies.

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Circus of the Spineless #10

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COTS #10 is up on Science & Sensibility. No, it’s not the Carnival of the Sycophants. “Spineless” as in:

… Of the two and a half million animals so far described considerably less than 60,000 fall into the sub-phylum Vertebrata [the spined] – that is, less than three percent of described animals build their bodies in the same way we do. Even that number is a great under-estimation; there are probably at least 10 million arthropods and very few vertebrates not yet known to man. …

So, fellow gardeners, when you’re feeling outnumbered by the beasties in your garden, you are.

Your host got picked up for this issue:

More beetle news from Xris of Flatbush Gardener who reports that the state of New York has decided to change the state insect to one that actually lives in the state of New York.

Even cooler, several of my favorite bloggers are also in this issue, including:

And there’s several blogs in COTS #10 new to me which are going on my rolls.

GAO Testimony, June 21, 2006: Invasive Forest Pests

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On April 21, 2006, Daniel Bertoni, Acting Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accounting Office (GAO), provided testimony before the House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. His testimony follows two recent GAO Reports on this topic:

It’s sort of a good news (little), bad news (more), report.

First, there’s some hopeful news regarding Anoplophora glabripennis, the Asian longhorned beetle, or “ALB”:

On the basis of the available evidence, it appears that the Asian longhorned beetle will be eradicated in the three states that have infestations, although funding reductions have extended the likely completion date. …

The “three states that have infestations” are New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. However, ALB has been detected near ports of entry throughout the United States, including Florida, Texas, California and Washington states.

Not so good news on EAB and Sudden Oak Death:

… In contrast, the emerald ash borer and P. ramorum–the pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death–are likely to continue to infest and damage forest ecosystems in the Midwest and on the West Coast, despite efforts to control them. …

And some observations on how things got so bad:

… We identified areas of vulnerability that we believe increase the risk of future forest pest infestations. Specifically, we found that despite efforts to expand USDA’s forest health monitoring programs, they do not adequately provide for comprehensive monitoring in urban forests or other locations considered at high risk from pest invasions. Monitoring in such areas is important because they are common destination points for internationally traded cargo, which is a frequent pathway for pests. Improvements could help prevent situations such as those experienced with the Asian longhorned beetle, the emerald ash borer, and P. ramorum, in which years of delay in detection allowed them to become established before control programs began. In our report on port inspections, we found that DHS has not used a risk-based staffing model to assign newly hired agricultural specialists to ports of entry. As a result, DHS does not have assurance that staff are assigned to areas of greatest vulnerability. …

Resources, Links, and References:

  • Invasive Forest Pests: Recent Infestations and Continued Vulnerabilities at Ports of Entry Place U.S. Forests at Risk, GAO-06-871T, June 21, 2006. All quotes above are from the Abstract.
  • Asian Longhorned Beetle at the University of Vermont is comprehensive and accessible. Their identification page, with comparative photos of ALB and similar and easily confused species, is excellent.

Coleomegilla usurps Coccinella as New York State Insect

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[Update, 2006.08.15: Corrected the date to 2006 from 2005!]

News, June 15, 2006, Albany, NY: The New York State Assembly bill A06247 passed and delivered to the Senate:

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL : Alters terminology of the state insect.

JUSTIFICATION : To change the official state insect from the Nine-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella novemnotata) species of the lady bug, which is no longer found in New York State, to another species of Lady Bug, the Spotted lady bug (Coleomegilla maculata).

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY : New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS : None.

EFFECTIVE DATE : Immediately.

Here’s how the New York Times reported it today, June 23:

The state’s official insect, a nine-spotted ladybug, would no longer fly in that role: it is extinct in New York State. So legislators took a break from bickering over health care spending and property taxes in the waning days of the session and found common ground on the issue of designating a new state insect, making it the pink spotted ladybug instead.
– A Few Things Lawmakers Can Agree On [requires subscription for viewing]

I think the correct term would be “extirpated” in New York State. Regardless, the article goes on to quote Nancy Calhoun, Republican, sponsor of the bill:

… “I know it’s not earth-shattering,” said the assemblywoman, Nancy Calhoun, who represents parts of Orange and Rockland Counties.

Ms. Calhoun says she was just trying to right a wrong. Lawmakers first adopted the state’s official bug in 1989, but the nine-spotted ladybug had already become extinct in the state. Ms. Calhoun was alerted to the error by a reporter a couple of years ago and she submitted a bill to rectify the matter.

“Why do we want to get something like this wrong?” Ms. Calhoun said. “It would be like having a dinosaur as our state reptile.” …

It’s an interesting question. In fact, New York State has a state fossil, the Sea Scorpion, which is an extinct relative of the Horseshoe Crab, which is not. So intentionally selecting an extinct state symbol is not out of the question. The comparison is not accurate, however. Dinosaurs were extinct before we got onto the scene; C. novemnotata was once common. A better question is: How did New York State get to have a once-native-but-no-longer-resident state insect?

The back-story can be found in the Fall 2003 issue of Wings, the magazine of the Xerces Society:

In 1980, fifth grader Kristina Savoca sent a letter – along with a petition bearing 152 signatures – to New York State Assemblyman Robert C. Wertz, urging him to introduce legislation designating the lady beetle as the official state insect. The proposal languished for a number of years, passing in the Assembly but not being considered in the Senate. Approval finally came in 1989, after Cornell University entomologists suggested that Wertz propose the nine-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella novemnotata, usually abbreviated to C-9) as the state insect because it was one of the most important native lady beetles and was believed to be common. The red-and-black insect is also widely recognizable to the public as a ““ladybug.””
…
Among the several dozen species of lady beetles in New York state, C-9 was the clear choice in 1989 because it had been -— and was assumed still to be -— the most common lady beetle in New York and the northeastern United States. It ranged across the United States and through southern Canada. However, several recent [as of 2003] surveys in New York and the Northeast in general have not recovered any individuals of C-9 … It is now clear that C-9 occupies only a tiny fraction of its former range in North America.
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Many entomologists suspect that introduced lady beetles, such as the seven-spot (Coccinella septempunctata) and Asian multi-colored (Harmonia axyridis) lady beetles, played a role in C-9’’s disappearance. … Qualitatively, several native lady beetle species have declined as first the seven-spot and then the Asian multi-colored lady beetles established and rose to prominence. Introduced species may also replace each other, as the Asian multi-colored lady beetle’s arrival seems to have led to the seven-spot lady beetle becoming increasingly rare.

The cause for concern is that introduced species may fill the same ecological niche native species once occupied. [Emphasis added] This is problematic because many of these species are from Asia and are not adapted to the harsh Northeastern winters or climatic irregularities like droughts. Unlike native lady beetles, which overwinter in hedgerows and in the duff of trees, the introduced coccinellids take to people’s garages and homes, often by the thousands, creating a considerable nuisance. More important, introduced species may out-compete native species for food and replace them …
…
We can hope that the decline of C-9 and several other conspicuous coccinellids will lead to a greater focus on this valuable family. To call attention to their plight, listing the species as ““endangered” in New York state and ““threatened” at the national levels is warranted. This is a task that the Xerces Society will be undertaking in the coming months. Other native lady beetles have similar habitat requirements and probably suffer from similar limiting factors, so efforts to survey for and conserve C-9 should prove useful for a suite of species. What began as a simple letter from a student to a state assemblyman has resulted in a greater awareness of the threats to apparently ubiquitous creatures often assumed to be safe from the pressures of environmental change.
– The Decline of C-9 – New York’s State Insect, By Erin J. Stephens and John E. Losey

Here’s how we can “right the wrong”: instead of introducing a bill to gloss over the extirpation of a species, let’s reintroduce and restore C. novemnotata to New York State. Then our state insect would be a symbol to aspire to, and not simply an “error.”

[goo.gl]

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Garden Ephemera: Insect (Orthoptera-Tettigoniidae?) on Mugwort

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Photo taken: June 4, 2006, Garden #4, Flatbush, Brooklyn

Unknown insect on Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort, in the sunny border at Garden #4 in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

It was small, the body no more than 1/2 inch long. I think it may be a juvenile form; it doesn’t appear to have any wings at all.

The antenna on this little guy are incredible. They look to be three times the length of the body, not including the legs. The hind legs themselves are about 1.5 times the length of the body.

I have no idea what it is. I think it’s in the Order Orthoptera, Family Tettigoniidae, which includes grasshoppers, katydids, and the like. It’s hard to tell with this image, but the hind tarsi, the rear feet, look like they have only three segments instead of the four which is a key for this family of insects.

Artemisia vulgaris, Mugwort, is an invasive plant. I’ll have a profile of it on another day. After I took this and some other pictures, I removed it from the border. It’s been almost three weeks, and it’s coming back up now, so Ill have to go at it again.

Insect Profile: Apion (Rhopalapion) longirostre, Hollyhock weevil

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Apion (Rhopalapion) longirostre, Hollyhock weevil, on, of all things, my hollyhocks in the sunny border at Garden #4 in Flatbush. The upper photo shows a single male, I believe, on a leaf. The lower photo shows a pair in their typical posture, ie: mating. The female has her (even longer) snout buried in the flower bud.
Photos taken: June 4, 2006

The taxonomy of Apion (Rhopalapion) longirostre, common name Hollyhock weevil or (sometimes) Black vine weevil, is confusing. I’ve seen it listed as being in the Family Brentidae, the straight snout weevils, the Apionidae or Apioninae, and the Curculionidae. Whatever! They are in the order Coleoptera, the beetles.

The genus Apion seem to generally have long snouts. Their antenna are jointed and located halfway along the snout. A. longirostre is distinguished from other Apion species by its orange legs.

Their native range of A. longirostre is in Eurasia, originally limited to southern and southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. It has since spread much further afield there. It was first detected in North America in Georgia in 1914. Within fifty years it had spread across the continent.


They deposit their eggs in the ovaries of unopened hollyhock buds. The eggs hatch and the larvae develop within the ovary, eating the seeds. Within the still unopened bud, they pupate and emerge as fully-formed adults, chewing a hole from the inside out. Adults can winter over in the soil. They may also spread via hollyhock seeds.

This is my first encounter with this creature. I didn’t notice them during the first year in this garden, though they were probably already present. The adults are easily spooked. They move constantly. When I approached them with my macro lens, they would hide deep in the buds and under leaves. The photos above were the only two good ones – ie: in focus on the weevils, not the plant – I got out of the series. Oh, and did I mention they mate constantly?

From what I can find out, they seem to be host-specific: they don’t affect any other plants. Many, if not all Apion seem to be host-specific. A. fuscirostre, the Scotch broom seed weevil has even been intentionally introduced as a biological control for Spartium scoparium, Scotch broom. (Other weevil species are serious problems). There also doesn’t seem to be any biological controls for them, whether insect, fungus or what have you. It’s possible that some generalizing insect predator might be effective. All the literature suggests various insecticides, which I refuse to use. I’d rather just not be able to grow hollyhocks, if it comes to that.

Mechanical controls would seem to be the only option. They also tend to drop to the ground when disturbed, so that could be used against them by shaking them out onto some paper or other collector placed under the plant. I had been wondering why some of the hollyhock buds turned brown and papery before they bloomed. Weevils may be why. If so, then removing and destroying the unopened buds may also help control their population. I’ve also seen suggestions to either freeze the seedpods to kill the larvae (which would not affect overwintering adults), or open the seedpods and place them in the sun to drive out the weevils (my weevils were in full sun, so I don’t think that would bother them enough to make a difference).

Note that there is another weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, which also goes by the common name of Black vine weevil. It looks completely different. In particular, it does not have the long snout with antenna; it looks more like a regular beetle. It’s behavior is also different. It does not lay eggs in flower buds; instead, they drop to the ground. Also, it feeds on multiple host plants. It’s much more of a problem than Apion.

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GAO Report, April 24, 2006: Invasive Forest Pests

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GAO just released a report on the status of efforts to eradicate Anoplophora glabripennis, the Asian longhorned beetle, or “ALB” for short:

Invasive forest pests have seriously harmed our environment and imposed significant costs upon our economy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the lead agency for responding to forest pests. This report evaluates the federal response to three invasive forest pests–the Asian longhorned beetle [Anoplophora glabripennis], the emerald ash borer, and the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum) [Sudden Oak Death]. Specifically, GAO describes (1) the status of efforts to eradicate these species, (2) the factors affecting the success of those efforts, (3) overall forest health monitoring programs, (4) coordination and communication of the three pest response efforts, and (5) USDA’s use of panels of scientific experts to aid in the response efforts.

Invasive Forest Pests: Lessons Learned from Three Recent Infestations May Aid in Managing Future Efforts, GAO-06-353, April 21, 2006
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-06-353

In August 1996, the first ALB in the United States was discoved in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I garden just a few blocks south of Prospect Park and the NYC ALB quarantine zone. To learn how to identify ALB, and NYC’s efforts, visit the NYC Parks ALB Home Page.