Willie Chance

Caterpillars feeding on shrubs and trees in the fall

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In the fall, there are several caterpillars that feed on the leaves of trees and shrubs. Although the leaf damage may look significant, the plants may not be as damaged as one may think. You need to understand the type, size and the growth phase of the plant and the type of caterpillar you have before deciding whether to control them.

Deciduous trees will soon be losing their leaves anyway. Foliage feeding by caterpillars is likely to cause little injury. The leaves are going to fall off anyway.

For evergreen trees, foliage loss will be more likely to affect the tree and control is more likely to be needed. For evergreen trees, especially avoid defoliation of entire limbs since these often do not recover. 

Bagworms are a long lasting problem since the bags contain hundreds of eggs which will hatch next year. Unfortunately, at this time of year you will need to pick off the bags and destroy them since the bags are sealed now and pesticide cannot easily get inside. Remove the bags you can see right now and plan to check these plants for small bagworms next May.

Bagworm
Bagworm, John-H. Ghent, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Young trees or trees weakened by other factors may be more likely to be damaged by loss of foliage to caterpillars than younger, healthy trees.

Evergreen shrubs retain their leaves throughout the fall and winter and into next year. Injured leaves on evergreen shrubs will be visible until they fall naturally – which could be a year or more from now. Control decisions on shrubs should be based on the level of aesthetic injury the home owner will accept.

Deciduous shrubs, like deciduous trees, will be losing their leaves soon and foliage loss to caterpillars in the fall is less likely to cause a lasting problem.

For information on control measures, see these resources:

IPM for Select Deciduous Trees

Pest Management Handbook

Contact your local Extension Office

Forest Pest Insects in North America: a Photographic Guide

Pesticide Regulatory & Education Highlights

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Regulatory changes and sources of info for the Georgia pest control industries.

Willie Chance, UGA Center for Urban Agriculture

1. In January 2013 the U.S.-E.P.A. mandated some sweeping changes in the way pyrethroid-based insecticides will be used in the home environment. These changes will impact use labels for professional pest control operators and products available to homeowners in the over-the-counter market.

Pyrethroid insecticides can be recognized because the names of the active ingredients end in “-thrin” or “-ate”. Examples of commonly used pyrethroids are bifenthrin, cypermethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, cyfluthrin, permethrin, esfenvalerate, etc. Pyrethroid products (sprays, aerosols, and granulars) are common in the professional market, and they dominate products in the over the counter (OTC) market.

Broadcast applications to large surfaces such as exterior walls of buildings, patios, or concrete walkways will no longer be allowed. Treat only where the pest is or will enter a structure (around windows, doors, or other openings). All outdoor applications must be limited to spot* or crack-and-crevice treatments only, except for the following permitted uses:

  1. Treatment to soil or vegetation around structures;
  2. Applications to lawns, turf, and other vegetation;
  3. Applications to the side of a building, up to a maximum of 3 feet above grade;

[*A spot treatment is not to exceed two square feet; making adjacent spot treatments to cover a large area is not allowed.] Pyrethroids used for termite pre-treatments have additional guidelines

See the complete Guidance Document from which this info is taken – http://tinyurl.com/lfxg6eg These regulations will also be on the pesticide label. Read and follow the label – it is the law!

2. Pesticide applicators must now verify residency during recertification. During the 2013 legislative session, a house bill was passed that required all state agencies that issue licenses to verify the legal residence of the applicant. See this article.

3. MSDS sheets should eventually be modified by OSHA and called SDS sheets. These SDS sheets will be used globally. Info taken from http://www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/HCSFactsheet.html

Major changes:

  • Hazard classification: Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to determine the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import.
  • Labels: Chemical manufacturers and importers must provide a label that includes a signal word, pictogram, hazard statement, and precautionary statement for each hazard class and category.
  • Safety Data Sheets: The new format requires 16 specific sections, ensuring consistency in presentation of important protection information.
  • Information and training: To facilitate understanding of the new system, the new standard requires that workers be trained by December 1, 2013 on the new label elements and safety data sheet format, in addition to the current training requirements. See https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3642.pdf

More information can be found on OSHA’s hazard communication safety and health topics page at www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/index.html. Note that these changes cover chemicals in general and does not replace existing pesticide labels and regulations.

Companies will want to:

  • Replace existing MSDS sheets with the new 16 section SDS sheets.
  • Provide training for workers on these changes. This 16 minute video can help supply this training – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvQNf1Y7E84

4. Label changes for the neo-nicotinyl pesticides (examples include imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam) These are to protect bees and other pollinators. Watch labels for the Bee Advisory Box. For more information see this article.

Recent research indicates that contamination of flowers or nectar with these pesticides can lead to bee injury. Do not treat pre-bloom or blooming plants with these chemicals. Read the label for other information. This will help protect bees and help to keep these available to the industry. http://ugaurbanag.com/insecticide-application-timing-vital-to-native-bee-conservation/

5. UGA has a video to help applicators prepare to take the Mosquito Control (Category 41) exam.

6. Georgia Clean Day is a program that gives an opportunity to discard old, unusable, or cancelled pesticides to a hazardous waste contractor for disposal. The Georgia Department of Agriculture has secured a limited amount of federal funds to revitalize the Georgia Clean Day Program for 2013. For more information or to find an event please contact Joshua Wiley (404-656-4958 or joshua.wiley@agr.georgia.gov) with the Department’s pesticide program.

7. Africanized bees have been discovered in Georgia. Though they look like traditional honey bees, when disturbed Africanized bees respond very aggressively and can kill or severely injure people who have not been trained in how to react to these bees. Everyone who works or spends much time outside should know how to deal with Africanized honeybees. See this article.

8. The GA Pest Management Handbook is updated annually with chemical and non-chemical pest control methods. It comes in a commercial and homeowner editions which can be purchased or viewed or downloaded as pdfs from http://www.ent.uga.edu/pmh/ See just the turf info or the new UGA turf app here –www.GeorgiaTurf.com.

9. UGA Apps to manage turf pests – http://blog.extension.uga.edu/urbanag/?p=581 or to identify invasive pests –http://apps.bugwood.org/apps.html

Online and other training

10. UGA Safety Makes Sense Landscape Worker Safety Certificate Course is available at no charge at vimeo.com/46623806.  You can train on your time schedule, rainy day or any day.  The training video (a compilation of the Safety Makes Sense series) can be viewed online or downloaded and saved for use when Internet is not available.  The course includes Certificates of Completion.

The bilingual safety manual, Safety for Hispanic Landscape Workers, is available Online or for purchase All center safety training resources and Hispanic worker resources are available on the UGA Center for Urban Agriculture web site at Safety Makes Sense. This includes a series of short bilingual safety videos.

11. Monthly UGA webinar for landscape industry – http://ugaurbanag.com/webinars . Past classes are also online.

Also – Bi-monthly webinar for the structural pest control industry with credits – email Dan Suiter at dsuiter@uga.edu.

12. The Urban Ag Council has an excellent collection of Safety Zone training materials – http://www.maltamembers.com/safetyzone/. Part of this collection of training materials is the UAC Safety School.

13. Accessible Training for the Landscape & Turf Industries

Disposing of excess pesticides 

Important Info for Landscape and Turf Pesticide Applicators

 14. eXtension is a web-based collaboration of US land-grant universities to make university educational resources more accessible – http://about.extension.org/

15. eLearn Urban Forestry Online Training – An online, distance-learning program geared specifically toward beginning urban foresters and those allied professionals working in urban landscapes. Offers International Society of Arboriculture and Society of American Foresters credit and a certificate program. Visit www.elearn.sref.info

Find this information in this article.

What type of spider is this and what is the risk?

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Brown widow spiders – hiding in a log near you

Stephanie Schupska, news editor with the University of Georgia Public Affairs Office

A brown widow spider will usually hide when it senses danger. In fact, a person is more likely to be hit by lightning than be bitten by a brown or black widow spider. Image credit: Nancy Hinkle.
A brown widow spider will usually hide when it senses danger. In fact, a person is more likely to be hit by lightning than be bitten by a brown or black widow spider. Image credit: Nancy Hinkle.
Glove up before clearing brush, cleaning out the garage or pulling logs off the woodpile this winter. A brown widow spider or her more commonly known sister, the black widow, may be hiding in the shadows.

The brown widow’s camouflage – an orange hourglass on a brown body – makes her hard to see. That’s good for her but bad for the person who sticks a hand too close to her web.

Avoids people

The brown widow usually tries to stay away from people, said Whitney Boozer, an entomology graduate student with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“If they’re disturbed, they drop off the web, curl up in a ball or retreat,” Boozer said.

They can’t retreat when they’re pressed up against someone’s skin, though. A brown widow gets in this situation when someone wraps a hand around her while she’s holed up some place.

Wear long sleeves and gloves

Gloves and long sleeves will protect you “if you’re working in areas where brown widow spiders are commonly found,” Boozer said. Outside, brown widows prefer woodpiles, tires, empty containers and eaves. Indoors, the spider prefers protected places like under furniture and in shoes.

Shake clothes and check shoes before putting them on if they are left outside or in a garage.

Bites by brown widows cause severe reactions in 5 percent of people who are bitten. The young and old are especially vulnerable. With medical intervention, bites are almost never fatal.

The only scientific data collected on deaths attributed to widow spiders was taken between 1950 and 1959. During that time, 63 people died from the spiders’ bites, said Nancy Hinkle, a CAES entomologist.

Indoor plumbing lowered bite numbers

“Doubtless those numbers are much lower now that we have indoor plumbing because most widow bites occurred in privies,” she said.

According to Boozer, the brown widow’s venom is more toxic than that of her black cousin, but she injects less venom when she bites.

“In my whole life, I have known only one person bitten by a widow spider, and actually I didn’t know him, he just called my office,” Hinkle said. “On the other hand, I have personally known three people who were struck by lightning.”

She estimates that there are fewer than seven people killed each year by widow spiders. More than 1,000 people each year are struck by lightning.

A bad reputation

“So your chance of being killed by a widow spider bite — even without treatment — is over 100 times less than your chance of being struck by lightning,” Hinkle said.

Despite the odds, brown widows still aren’t spiders most people want wandering around in their homes. If you do see one, don’t panic. Boozer suggests taking it outside or vacuuming it up.

“Even outside, you’re allowed to kill widow spiders,” Hinkle said, who usually cringes when the conversation turns to smashing spiders.

Crush the egg sack, too, Boozer said. A brown widow’s egg sack is sphere shaped with spindly spikes of webbing sticking up all over it.

If desperation leads to a chemical attack, it’s best to spray spiders directly, Boozer said. Spraying a home’s perimeter may prevent spiders from entering it, but it won’t kill the ones already there. Brown widow spiders avoid places that have been sprayed.

Fall Armyworms in Turf

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Will Hudson1, Cheri Abraham2 and Kris Braman1

1 UGA Entomologists and 2 Field Operations Manager/ Entomologist at US Citrus, LLC

Fall Armyworms in Turf
Large armyworm. Photo by Kris Braman, UGA Entomologist

In late summer, almost every year, caterpillars invade turfgrass throughout Georgia. The damage to established turf is mostly aesthetic, but newly sodded or sprigged areas can be more severely damaged or even killed. While there are several caterpillars that can damage turfgrass, in late summer most of the problems are from fall armyworms.

Hot, dry weather can intensify fall armyworm problems when egg-laying adults concentrate their eggs in irrigated, green turf.  At least some cultivars of all warm season grasses are susceptible.  Cool season grasses like tall fescue are very favorable for fall armyworm growth and development too, and do not regenerate as readily as the stoloniferous grasses.

Fall armyworm adults migrate northward every year from southern overwintering areas.  Adult armyworm moths are active at night and females lay eggs in masses of 50 to several hundred.  These night-flying moths are attracted to lights and to lighter colored surfaces.   Egg masses on structures around turf (eaves and gutters, fence and porch posts, flags on golf courses) and even on taller foliage plants can be the first indicators of incipient infestations.

Fall Armyworms in Turf
Small armyworms feeding on leaves. Photo by Kris Braman, UGA Entomologist

Eggs hatch in a few days, and the young larvae begin to feed on leaf tissue.  Damage from small larvae may at first look like skeletonizing, but as the worms grow, the entire leaf is consumed.  Small larvae at this time are easier to control and have inflicted less damage than full grown (35-50 mm long) larvae.  Full grown larvae will soon pupate in upper soil/thatch layer and will not be susceptible to insecticides at this point.

Armyworm larvae are most active early and late in the day, spending the hotter hours down near the soil in the shade. Larvae feed for 2 to 3 weeks before pupating in the soil.  Moths emerge 10 – 14 days later.  The entire life cycle from egg to adult moth takes about 28 days in the warm weather of August and September.

Fall Armyworms in Turf
Paper wasp eating caterpillar. Photo by Cheri Abraham, Field Operations Manager/ Entomologist at US Citrus, LLC

If there is any doubt about whether worms are present, pouring soapy water on the grass (1/2 oz. dishwashing soap/gallon water) will bring them up very quickly.  Heavily infested turf will also have visible greenish-black fecal pellets on the soil surface.  Other indicators of armyworm infestations may include birds or even paper wasps that use the fall armyworms as food.

Control of Armyworms

Control of armyworms and other turf caterpillars is relatively simple once the problem is identified.  There are several pesticides from which to choose depending upon the site you are treating. Consult the UGA Pest Management Handbook or your local Extension Agent for recommendations. Read and follow all label directions when using pesticides.

Armyworms are most active late in the day and at night, so pesticide applications should be made as late as practical for best results.  It is not necessary to water after application but an application rate of 20 – 25 gallons of solution per acre as a minimum will ensure good coverage. Cutting the grass prior to application may improve control, but do not cut grass for 1 –3 days after application.

In addition to the birds and paper wasps mentioned above, a number of other insects feed on armyworms, including tiger beetles and other ground beetles.  Fall armyworms, like many other turf infesting caterpillars can also be heavily parasitized by tiny wasps that kill the caterpillars and cause no harm to humans or pets.  These natural enemies can be conserved by spot rather than blanket spraying and properly timing control efforts.

What is this large spider hanging around in landscapes?

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Female Golden Garden Spider, Image by Hancy Hinkle

The picture is of a Yellow Garden Spider which are often seen in the landscape in late summer and fall. Read on to learn more about this and another fall spider.

Late Summer & Autumn Spiders

Nancy C. Hinkle, UGA Department of Entomology 

Between now and Halloween we will be seeing more spiders around our yards.  The first hard frost will kill them off. Now they are mating and producing egg sacs so their eggs can overwinter and re-establish the population next spring.  There are two orb-weaver spiders with large webs that are most commonly seen.

Barn spiders (Araneus cavaticus) can be found on porches, where flying insects attracted to porch lights get trapped in their webs.  These spiders are nocturnal, constructing a new web every evening and taking it down before dawn.  This rusty brown spider has legs extending about 2 inches, making it look large and noticeable.  These spiders hide during the day, but at night are found in the middle of the web, waiting for insects to be trapped.

The yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) is one of the longest spiders we have here in Georgia.  It is frequently found in gardens and around shrubbery where it constructs large webs to entrap flying insects.  The abdomen has distinctive yellow and black markings while the front part of the body, the cephalothorax, is covered in white.

The female yellow garden spider typically remains in one spot throughout her life, repairing and reconstructing her web as it is damaged and ages.  Her web may have a distinctive zigzag of silk through the middle, explaining its other common name, “writing spider.”  Unlike the nocturnal barn spider, the yellow garden spider can be found in its web anytime.  Sometimes a smaller spider will be found in the web with her; this is the male garden spider.

These spiders have been present all summer, eating pest insects and growing.  By late summer they are large enough that people start noticing them.  Remember,Georgia has over 800 species of spiders, all of which are harmless if you leave them alone.  All spiders are more afraid of you than you are of them.

For more information:

Call your local Extension Agent at (800) ASK-UGA1 or locate your local Extension Office.

Stinging and Biting Pests of People

Golden Garden Spiders

Pest Management Handbook Follow all label recommendations when using any pesticide

Tiger, tiger…Aedes albopictus

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Taken from the April 10 issue of Dideebycha, newsletter of the Georgia Mosquito Control Association

Aedes albopictus was introduced into the Port of Houston in 1985 in shipments of used tires from northern Asia. Movement of tire casings has spread the species to more than 20 states since 1985.

The Asian tiger mosquito is a small black and white mosquito. The name “tiger mosquito” comes from its white and black color pattern. It has a white stripe running down the center of its head and back with white bands on the legs.  These mosquitoes lay their eggs in water-filled natural and artificial containers like cavities in trees and old tires; they do not lay their eggs in ditches or marshes. The Asian tiger mosquito usually does not fly more than about ½ mile from its breeding site and generally flies a considerably shorter distance.

Asian Tiger Mosquito range in the U.S.
Asian Tiger Mosquito range in the U.S.

Aedes albopictus associates closely with people and is an aggressive, daytime biting mosquito.  It is native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia, and is now found in 1/3 of the Unites States. New Jersey, southern New York, and Pennsylvania are currently the northernmost boundary of established Ae albopictus populations in the eastern United States.

The tiger mosquito is an important disease carrier in Asia. In North America, Ae albopictus is among the most efficient bridge vectors of WNV. In addition to vectoring exotic arboviruses, this species can also transmit the endemic eastern equine encephalitis and La Crosse viruses in the laboratory and in the field.  It is a competent vector of both Dengue and Chikungunya virus.  In fact, Ae albopictus is a competent vector for at least 22 arboviruses.

A lot of work has been done recently on control of Ae albopictus.  Since it is a daytime biting species and an asynchronous emerger, conventional truck-based ULV spraying doesn’t always work well.  According to one study, an integrated pest management approach can affect abundances, but labor-intensive, costly source reduction is not enough usually to maintain Ae albopictus counts below a nuisance threshold.

References

Fonseca, et al, Area-wide management of Aedes albopictus. Part 2: Gauging the efficacy of traditional integrated pest control measures against urban container mosquitoes. 2013. Pest Management Science, 69 (12): 1351–1361.

Regulatory Restrictions Protect Human and Animal Health

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Nancy C. Hinkle, Ph.D.

Veterinary Entomologist, Dept. of Entomology, University of Georgia

One of the foundations of Integrated Pest Management is prevention, and one of the essential underpinnings of prevention can be regulatory restrictions. If we prevent the introduction of a pest or disease into an area where it does not occur, we avoid the risks associated with the pest or pathogen.

WNV cycleUp until fifteen years ago we had never had a case of West Nile Virus in the U.S. So how did West Nile Virus come to North America? Probably someone smuggled in an infected bird that was carrying the virus. The smuggler didn’t think he was doing anything bad; after all, he had paid good money for the bird and wanted to bring it home with him to New York City. What was wrong with tucking the bird into his pants and not declaring it when the agent asked if he was bringing any living animals as he passed through Customs? Once home, the bird was placed in a cage near the apartment window, a local mosquito flew in and sucked a little of its blood, then flew out and fed on a local sparrow. The sparrow became infected with West Nile Virus, more mosquitoes fed on it and picked up the virus, and a few weeks later dozens of birds at the Bronx Zoo dropped dead of West Nile Virus after being fed on by these infected mosquitoes.

Meanwhile people in Queens were developing high fevers, severe headaches, and nerve problems like paralysis. Even though New York mobilized and started treating for mosquitoes, the virus was already established in birds and mosquitoes. West Nile did not exist in the U.S. prior to 1999; since that year mosquitoes have spread West Nile westward through the continental U.S., resulting in over 1,700 human deaths and ten times that many paralysis cases.

WNV incidence in the US
Source – http://tinyurl.com/qdm4u65

There is a reason the Customs Declaration Form that people entering the U.S. fill out contains the question, “Are you bringing with you meats, animals, or animal/wildlife products?”  While we don’t often think about it, animals in other countries can contain pathogens that we don’t have here in North America and that can be lethal to humans or animal life on our continent. If these hosts get moved into our country, the pathogens can rapidly spread to local wildlife and then to humans.

Before traveling outside the U.S., travelers should visit the Centers for Disease Control website to determine which vaccinations and medications are needed for the areas to which they’ll be traveling. It’s important to follow appropriate precautions to avoid insect bites. And people reentering the U.S. should not bring back with them any living animal or plant, meat, or other animal products. The fellow who smuggled in the West Nile-infected bird had no idea that his action would result in the death of over 1,700 Americans, thousands of horses, and countless wild birds.

Fungicide Efficacy Chart Available Online

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Information from Jean Williams-Woodward, UGA Extension Plant Pathologist

I’ve been asked on numerous occasions for an efficacy table for fungicides labeled for ornamental plants. Well, myself, Alan Windham (University of Tennessee), Kelly Ivors (Cal Poly) and Nicole Ward Gauthier (University of Kentucky) put one together that lists products and their relative effectiveness for managing 14 diseases as part of a Southern Region IPM project. Diseases include:

  • bacterial leaf spots/blights
  • black root rot (Thielaviopsis basicola)
  • cedar rusts (Gymnosporangium rusts)
  • Conifer Tip Blights
  • Downy mildew
  • Fire blight
  • Fungal stem cankers
  • Fungal leaf spots
  • Fusarium stem rot
  • Passalora (syn. Cercosporidium, Cercospora) needle blight on Leyland cypress and other needled evergreens
  • Phytophthora root rot
  • Pythium root rot
  • Powdery mildew
  • Rhizoctonia blight/root rot

The table is not all inclusive, but it’s a start that we hope to expand upon and update. You can find the table here

Editor’s note – You can save the file as a pdf file to your computer. If you print it, do so in landscape format. I find the file to be more easily read as a pdf file on the computer since you can enlarge the size of the page. This is a great resource!

These things are crawling everywhere!

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Millipede Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org
Millipede – Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

This is a millipede. See the following information to know how to identify them or read the UGA publication Millipedes and Centipedes for complete identification and control information.

This information taken from the UGA publication Millipedes and Centipedes

Revised by Elmer W. Gray, Extension Entomologist
Original document produced by Dr. Beverly Sparks

Millipedes are often called 1,000-legged worms or rain worms. They are wormlike, with rounded body segments that each bear two pairs of legs. The head is rounded with short antennae. Species can vary in length from less than 1 to 2 or more inches. They are light brown to black in color.

Centipede Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org
Centipede – Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

Centipedes are often called 100-legged worms and have one pair of legs on each of their body segments. All centipede species are more or less wormlike and have a flattened body with a distinct head that bears a pair of long antennae. Jaws containing poison glands are located on the first body segment immediately behind the head. Depending on the species, centipedes can vary in length from 1 to 12 or more inches when mature. The most common centipede species found in Georgia are less than 5 inches long. Centipedes vary in color from light yellow to dark brown and reddish brown.

Millipedes can be numerous - Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org
Millipedes on a sticky trap – Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

Millipedes and centipedes are not insects. They are actually more closely related to lobsters, crayfish and shrimp. However, unlike their marine cousins, millipedes and centipedes are land dwellers. They are most often found in moist habitats or areas with high humidity.

Millipedes and centipedes do not carry diseases that affect people, animals or plants. Millipedes do occasionally damage seedling plants by feeding on stems and leaves, and may enter homes in large numbers during periods of migration and become a considerable nuisance. They do not cause damage inside the home, although they may leave a stain if they are crushed. Centipedes, which have poison glands and can bite, pose an occasional threat to humans.

Find more information in the publication here.

And the Extension Agent said…

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When Extension Agents were asked what they were seeing in the local Extension Office, these were some of their responses (requested July 25, 2014):

 

Trey Gafnea, Meriwether county

  • I have had three reports of fall army worms in the last 12 hours (sent Tue. July 29).

 

Teddie Berry, Program Asst – Perry

  • Everything to do with pecans
  • Bagworms in cedar
  • Pruning blueberries

 

Sid Mullis – Augusta

  • Rose rosette virus – 1st case ever brought to me in the Augusta area on July 16.
  • Torpedograss – only the 3rd or 4th case I have been aware of in the Augusta area.
  • And – the dreaded armyworms.

 

Randy Drinkard, LaGrange

  • spittlebugs on turf (primarily centipedegrass)
  • powdery mildew on a number of ornamental plants (particularly roses, dogwoods)
  • mealybugs on ornamental shrubs
  • euonymus scale
  • early blight on tomatoes
  • fall webworm in oaks, hickories and pecans
  • tons of poison ivy in naturalized areas
  • armadillo damage in lawns
  • Virginia buttonweed in turfgrasses

 

Tripp J. Williams, Columbia County

  • Fall webworms

 

Tim Daly, Gwinnett County

  • Millipedes in and around homes
  • Some kudzu bugs
  • Squash bugs
  • Mexican bean beetles
  • Prostrate spurge weed

 

Jule-Lynn Macie, Griffin, GA

  • Bag worms!

 

Gary Peiffer, Dekalb County

  • Brown patch on fescue, Bermuda
  • Rust on serviceberry, etc.
  • Fire Blight on Bradford pear
  • Cold damage to hawthorns, shrubs
  • Japanese Beetles on crepes

 

Willie Chance, Peach County

  • Melting out in Bermudagrass
  • Japanese beetles on Knock Outs, etc,
  • Lots of crabgrass
+ More