Georgia

Megacopta cribraria, also known as the kudzu bug, is once again moving from its preferred host in search of protected sites where it will spend the winter. Once on the move, the adult bugs are attracted to light-colored surfaces - landing on people, vehicles, and buildings. They are a nuisance pest for those living in our urban and suburban areas. This mass migration results in complaints and inquiries to pest control operators, Cooperative Extension offices, and the media.

Fruits for Coastal Georgia

 Growing herbs in southern gardens is simple and rewarding. Herbs provide seasonings for food, pleasant fragrances and interest to landscapes. A wide variety of herbs grow well in Georgia with its hot, humid summers and fluctuating winter temperatures.
 
What Are Herbs?

No other creatures provoke such simultaneous conflicting feelings as do snakes. We are at once attracted and repelled, intrigued by them and their habits and, at the same time, certain people are seized by an almost overwhelming urge to kill. As with any wild animal, caution is advised. Homeowners, hikers, hunters, children and others should not approach or threaten any wild animal, and snakes are no exception.

Scorpions are fairly common throughout the state. While they seldom sting, their presence around the home is objectionable to many people. Scorpion stings are usually no more poisonous than those of bees or wasps.

Copperheads are venomous snakes and members of the pit viper family. Pit vipers have a heat-sensing organ located between the eye and the nostril. This organ is useful in locating food by detecting the body heat of prey species. Copperheads are not generally aggressive and rarely injure people. They are secretive but valuable members of the wildlife community. Copperheads range throughout most of Georgia and occupy a variety of habitats.

Scientists classify armadillos with anteaters and sloths. They have poorly developed teeth and limited mobility. In fact, armadillos have small, peg-like teeth that are useful for grinding their food but of little value for capturing prey. No other mammal in Georgia has bony skin plates or a “shell,” which makes the armadillo easy to identify. Just like a turtle, the shell is called a carapace.

From the mountains to the sea, Georgia's forests are facing environment calamities that could forever change our natural landscape. Two insects, the Hemlock wooly adelgid and the Asian ambrosia beetle are two recently introduced species to Georgia that have killed thousands of trees statewide.
 
      Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

What do the words elephant, rhinoceros, ox and Hercules have in common? Of course, they are all terms for something bulky and powerful. They're also common names for a group of large, robust beetles in the family Scarabiidae.
 
Description

Asian tiger mosquito populations could be at record levels this year in Georgia according to leading mosquito experts.