In the trees and grasses of the South, there are a growing number of unwanted visitors that at best are an itchy nuisance and at worst can carry debilitating diseases: Ticks.

Public health officials say that numbers of reported cases of diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are not yet alarming and have not yet shown a definitive trend upward from a national perspective. But they do worry that more ticks means more of a risk that those diseases will spike.

And scientists are finding species of ticks not seen before in the region — just ask pediatric nurse Maria Mekeel, who has plucked 37 of the arachnids off herself and her husband over two months of dog walks.

The changes can be traced to 2009, when scientists found the Ixodes Affinis tick in North Carolina. The parasite, native to South America, had been previously seen only in coastal Florida and Georgia. That particular tick doesn’t bite humans, but it will bite animals. And scientists say a higher rate of disease in animals can make easier for other ticks to transmit to humans.

“Ticks are spreading, but usually not like wildfire,” said Joseph Piseman, chief of tickborne disease activity for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The spread is kind of slow but sure.”

Lyme disease is serious: It can cause paralysis, heart palpitations and death in extreme cases.

“We’re not talking about STD rates, but it’s common enough that people should be concerned,” said Charles Apperson, an entomologist who has studied ticks for three decades.

There are at least two other types of tick to contend with: The Gulf Coast variety and the Lone Star tick, common in its namesake state of Texas. The Gulf Coast tick, which until recently was not typically found as far north or east as North Carolina, carries a disease similar to the bacteria that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

The Lone Star tick carries a flu-like infection, and Apperson said the main reason for its emergence in the region is a larger population of deer for it to feed upon. Scientists aren’t so sure about why other species are invading, however.

There is a national trend of an increasing number of ticks. Piseman said the Ixodes Affinis variety has been expanding in New York and Wisconsin, and Lone Star ticks have been spreading across the U.S. for decades.

For the most part, scientists are not yet examining why the populations have been spreading, said entomologist Bruce A. Harrison, who studied ticks for the state of North Carolina for nearly 20 years. He hypothesized it may be at least in part caused by climate change. As temperatures change, animals that are food for ticks migrate — often because the plants they eat are now growing elsewhere.

“All of it’s hooked together,” said Harrison, who is studying the migration patterns of animals that ticks feed upon to learn more about how and why the arachnids are spreading.

While the CDC hasn’t reported a spike in tick-borne diseases, officials in North Carolina have noticed an increase this year compared to a year earlier. Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases are up 50 percent this year, said state public health veterinarian Carl Williams. And while there typically wasn’t a single positive Lyme disease test 10 years ago, now there are a few each year, Mekeel said.

For now, the best tool is education. Mekeel has put those 37 ticks she plucked off herself and her husband into a petri dish, which she uses to teach schoolchildren about ticks. If kids roll around on the ground, the ticks can latch on in tough-to-find spots like hair or the groin area, said Mekeel, who has 22 years of experience as a pediatric nurse.

“We’ll have children that will come in with maybe one hundred ticks on them at a time, not always, but it happens,” she said. “I’ve actually had a family that went away on vacation and put their clothes away in the laundry room and came home after a week and their laundry room was covered in ticks that had hatched in their clothes.”

Allen Reed can be reached on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Allen_Reed

Poison-spined lionfish. Swarming feral pigs. Giant cannibal shrimp.

So many weird creatures from somewhere else have been causing problems in North Carolina lately that perhaps the latest twist was inevitable: An old invasive species is being attacked by its own invasive species – which also happens to harbor an invasive bacteria that itself could be trouble.

That famed Asian interloper, kudzu, is being assaulted by, yes, a “kudzu bug.”

And it’s spreading rapidly. Moving north from the Atlanta area – where it was first found in 2009 – it had reached just one of the state’s 100 counties in 2010, Macon. Last year, it was in about half the counties, and now it’s moving into the rest.

The bugs hatch two generations a year. They are gifted hitchhikers and strong flyers, and easily by wind, said Dominic Reisig, an N.C. Cooperative Extension entomologist and N.C. State University assistant professor.

“Last week, we found them north of the Albemarle Sound for this first time, and it looks like they will probably be distributed throughout the entire state by the end of this year,” he said

Which might be fine if the ladybug-sized critters didn’t exude a stinking, caustic substance that can raise welts on humans. And if they lunched solely on their seemingly uncontrollable namesake vine.

But the bugs – which sport what researchers call “piercing-sucking mouthparts” – have developed a palate for a major crop that for mysterious reasons it didn’t like in its native Japan: soybeans.

They also feed on wisteria and like to congregate and loiter in large masses on home siding. They like light-colored surfaces and will rest on plants they don’t eat, such as fig and magnolia trees, crape myrtles, grapes, wheat, cotton and corn.

Except for their macabre feeding equipment, the brown-green bugs, seem innocuous.

They are not.

$500M soybean crop at risk

The nuisance to gardeners and homeowners is real, but much of the worries about the kudzu bugs center on the state’s $500 million soybean crop.

They have appeared so quickly, and their behavior in attacking soybeans was so unexpected, that it’s not clear yet what farmers can or should do to fight them off, Reisig said.

Crop consultant Bill Peele, president of Impact Agronomics in Washington, works with farmers in three counties. He said he hadn’t seen any kudzu bugs until last week but already, he said, they are showing up in large numbers.

At one farm near the Beaufort County town of Pantego, there were “gobs and gobs of them” on the edge of soybean fields, he said.

Farmers obviously could use insecticides, he said, but they have to be careful about harming insects that are beneficial to the soybeans.

The swarms in Pantego weren’t on the plants, for the most part, so the farmer was able to spray them, he said. But the fight is hardly over, as inevitably some were able to lay eggs among the soybeans.

Now, Peele said, he and the farmer are waiting to see what will happen when eggs hatch.

The plants are just starting to flower, and if the bugs feed on them as the bean pods are forming, that would cut the yield, but by how much is anyone’s guess.

In Japan, the bugs have long been studied, but they don’t attack soybeans there, Reisig said.

Here, though, they appear to be using a bacteria they brought with them to signal to their offspring that soybeans are good eats.

Researchers are still studying how it works, but they believe the mother places the bacteria near its eggs, and when the youngsters emerge the bacteria somehow signals what they should eat, Reisig said.

Bugs suck life out of plants

The bugs don’t chew on plants; rather, they suck moisture and nutrients from stems and leaves. That means they don’t really kill the kudzu or soybeans, but can stunt their growth and cut into soybean yields.

Chemicals they exude also probably tell them where to congregate, he said. Sometimes thick swarms will be found on one plant, and no bugs on the plant beside it. Or a swarm might be thick on the side of one house, but not next door.

When disturbed, they emit some sort of chemical that can irritate skin and stain it yellow. Plus, it smells, Reisig said, like industrial-strength drain cleaner.

Reisig, who specializes in insects found in soybean crops, has been trying to figure out what to tell farmers about the bugs.

Entomologists in North Carolina and in South Carolina and Georgia are teaming up to try to come up with approaches for growers to use to control the bugs, as well as information on how much or little damage they might do.

“Right now, farmers are hungering for information,” Reisig said. “I visited a few last week and you have to make at least an educated guess to tell these growers something.

“I like to make recommendations backed up by data and facts, but we’re kind of in the starting blocks right now,” he said.

In the long term, one approach might turn out to be using the bacteria that lets them eat soybeans as a weapon. Scientists may be able to manipulate the bacteria to trick the kudzu bugs into not eating soybeans, for example. Researchers also are experimenting with a wasp whose larvae attack the kudzu bug embryos.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do to have an effect on the meta population on this species,” Reisig said. “Farmers will take care of local infestations of their crops, but it will be in kudzu and wisteria in the wild, it will be around homes and gardens and short of searching them out on every legume in the landscape, there’s no way to eradicate them.”

Jay Price: 919-829-4526 or jprice@newsobserver.com
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/28/2096118/kudzu-bugs-are-ncs-latest-imported.html#storylink=cpy

The insects were first found in Georgia in 2009, and since then, they have been found in soybean fields there and in South Carolina in large numbers. In 2010, one North Carolina county reported the pest, and last summer, it had spread to roughly half the state’s counties.

While kudzu bugs feed on legumes, masses of the insects are found congregating on plants they don’t feed on, like fig trees, crepe myrtles, grapes, wheat, cotton, corn and magnolia trees, among others.

During the week of May 14, kudzu bugs had been reported in six North Carolina counties in soybean fields, according to Dr. Dominic Reisig, N.C. Cooperative Extension entomologist and N.C. State University assistant professor. Prior to this, kudzu bugs had mainly been found on patches of soybeans that came up voluntarily at the edge of fields and in soybean fields during mid- to late-summer.

And while the good news is that the insect does eat kudzu – another invasive species that all but swallows parts of the Southern landscape in summer – it isn’t likely to kill much of it, Reisig said.  But it has been shown to reduce kudzu biomass.

Kudzu bugs are about ¼ inch in size, somewhat oblong in shape and olive-green colored with brown speckles. With their piercing-sucking mouthparts, kudzu bugs feed on plants by sucking nutrients from leaves and stems. Though they don’t damage soybean pods like some other insect pests, they can induce stress in the plants, reducing yields.

The insects, which originated in Japan, are believed to have entered the United States near Atlanta, Reisig said. North Carolina entomologists have joined with researchers in South Carolina and Georgia to find effective strategies for managing this new pest. But right now, no one has much to offer, he said.

“We don’t know what kudzu bugs will do this year to yields,” Reisig said. “We’re taking calls on a case-by-case basis. We give growers the information we have and let them decide what to do.”

Reisig and Dr. Jack Bacheler, N.C. Cooperative Extension entomologist and N.C. State professor, have developed a fact sheet about treating crops to protect against this pest. Entomologists in North and South Carolina and Georgia are collaborating to come up with answers for growers.

The kudzu bug’s preference for various types of plants seems to be controlled by bacteria that the insect carries on its body. The bacteria are also deposited when the kudzu bug lays its eggs to give offspring some direction on food preferences.

In Japan, the kudzu bugs don’t seem to have a preference for soybeans, but here, it eats any type of legume. “So the question is, how did it get bacteria that makes it feed on soybeans?” Reisig said.

For homeowners, kudzu bugs pose different problems, said Dr. Mike Waldvogel, N.C. Cooperative Extension entomologist and N.C. State associate professor. This time of year, homeowners may find them feeding on wisteria or simply congregating on home siding. They seem to be attracted to light colored surfaces, he said. They also congregate on plants that they don’t feed on, including those mentioned above.

“It’s a new pest. We’re still getting a feel for what chemicals are most effective in controlling it,” he said.

Waldvogel cautions homeowners against spraying insecticide on overhead surfaces like siding, where residues will certainly fall back on the person applying the pesticide and also run off into storm water.

Some North Carolina homeowners have reported finding kudzu bugs congregating on wisteria. To treat the insects on outdoor plants like wisteria and ornamental fruit trees, Waldvogel recommends using an insecticide labeled for the particular type of plant that is infested.

In the fall, homeowners may find the bugs congregating indoors, and again, Waldvogel cautions against using pesticides to kill the bugs inside the home. The first line of defense is sealing gaps and openings (around plumbing and air conditioner lines) to prevent the bugs from entering the home.

One effective approach is to vacuum them up and throw out the bag, as described in a N.C. Cooperative Extension fact sheet. Waldvogel also recommends contacting your local county extension center for the latest information on controlling this pest. To find your county center, visit: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/counties.

While kudzu bugs don’t bite like mosquitoes, bedbugs or ticks, they can cause skin irritation. Whether through a bite or skin reaction, anecdotal reports indicate that welts can appear on skin where the kudzu bugs are encountered, Waldvogel said.

More information about kudzu bugs on crops:

http://ipm.ncsu.edu/cotton/insectcorner/PDF/Kudzu%20Bug%20Handout_Field%20Crops.Final.pdf

More information for homeowners about controlling kudzu bugs:
http://insects.ncsu.edu/Urban/kudzubug.htm

Contacts: Dominic Reisig, 252.793.4428 or dominic_reisig@ncsu.edu
Mike Waldvogel, 919.515.8881 or mike_waldvogel@ncsu.edu

–Written by Natalie Hampton, nhampton@ncsu.edu or 919.513.3128

“I’ve been receiving calls about ticks for well over a month already from homeowners, farmers and hunters,” said Kenny Perry, Graves County agriculture and natural resources extension agent.

“I’m seeing them earlier than before and expect them to be a problem this year,” said Charles May, Perry County agriculture and natural resources extension agent.

The early appearance of ticks is likely due to the weather earlier this year.

“Winter survival was probably higher due to the mild winter, and the tick season started earlier because of the warm spring,” said Lee Townsend, extension entomologist with the UK College of Agriculture.

Townsend said the two most common ticks in Kentucky are the lone star tick and the American dog tick. The adult female lone star tick has a white spot on its back. The male is entirely reddish-brown. The American dog tick is reddish brown with mottled white markings on its back. Both tick species are most active during April through September throughout much of Kentucky. All developmental stages of the lone star tick feed on humans, but only the adult stage of the America dog tick does.

Neither tick carries Lyme disease. Infected American dog ticks can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Fortunately, the incidence of disease is very low in this state. Researchers are studying a possible link between the lone star tick and Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness (STARI) and human ehrlichiosis. Individuals who experience flu-like symptoms within two weeks of a bite or exposure to a tick should see a doctor and report any exposure to ticks.

Like Perry and May, Richard Whitis, Pulaski County agriculture and natural resources extension agent, received some very early questions about ticks and tick identification. They were due to the blacklegged tick, a species only occasionally found in Eastern Kentucky before this past winter. Unlike the other two ticks, adult blacklegged ticks are most active in November through April. The blacklegged tick is most commonly found in the Northeast and north central states.

Blacklegged ticks look very different than American dog ticks and lone star ticks. Blacklegged ticks have a reddish-brown body, dark head, long mouthparts and dark legs. Males have a dark plate that covers their whole body while females have a dark plate that only covers half of their body.

The blacklegged tick is the main vector of Lyme disease in the Northeastern and north central United States. While this tick also occurs in the Southeast, the risk of Lyme disease is very low across the region. This appears to be due to a major difference in feeding activity by immature stages of the tick. The tiny nymphs, which are the important stage for transmission of Lyme disease in the North and Northeast, do not appear to feed on humans in the South, Townsend said. Only adults have been found on humans in Kentucky. Since it is a new tick to the state and has potential human health implications, individuals who suspect they’ve found a blacklegged tick or nymph, should send a sample to their local office of the UK Cooperative Extension Service for identification.

Individuals can take several precautions to protect themselves from ticks. Wear light-colored clothing so ticks are easier to see. Use repellents containing DEET or Picaradin or clothing sprays with the ingredient permethrin. Please note the Environmental Protection Agency warns not to put DEET containing products on children’s hands or near their eyes or mouth and to never put them on infants younger than two months. Keep lawns next to woods or bushy areas mowed. When individuals are working outdoors, hunting or hiking, they should inspect clothing, themselves and pets regularly for ticks. Ticks generally crawl around the body for an hour before attaching to feed so careful inspection is important, Townsend said. Avoid common tick habitats including tall grass, weeds, brush and forested areas as much as possible.

Contact: Lee Townsend, 859-257-7445
Kenny Perry, 270-247-2334
Charles May, 606-436-2044
Richard Whitis, 606-679-6361

Writer: Katie Pratt, 859-257-8774

For more information about ticks and how to prevent them, see the blog post at Stoppests.org.

Dr. James Morris, a marine ecologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, said recently that a report from the U.S. Geological Survey indicated that the numbers of the jumbo shrimp, which can grow as long as 13 inches, increased tenfold between 2010 and 2011.

“If that trend continues this year, we’ll be able to say we’re certain this is truly an ‘invasion,’ that these shrimp are self-reproducing, not just a one-time pulse,” Morris said. “It’s looking serious. If it keeps up, we’ll reach a ‘point of no return.’ There could be significant implications, including possible disruptions in the food web.”

The USGS survey notes that watermen brought in only 32 of the Asian shrimp in 2010, but caught 331 in 2011. Experts say the population is probably far higher than those numbers indicate, as fishermen generally report sightings and catches less often as they become more familiar with the species.

The tiger shrimp first came to widespread attention in North Carolina late last summer, when Sam Meadows, a commercial fisherman in Cedar Point in Carteret County, caught about 35 in the Cape Fear region and off South Carolina, between Georgetown and Charleston. Others were caught in Pamlico Sound.

Meadows ate one back then.

“I prefer our domestic shrimp, maybe just because that’s what I’m used to,” he said. “But it was good; it tasted like shrimp. And if somebody who didn’t know our shrimp ate one, he probably wouldn’t notice anything, except that it’s a little tough. And believe me, it’s a meal.”

Some of the crustaceans, which to the untrained eye look more like lobster than the shrimp species native to North Carolina waters, were more than a foot long. And they’re black-and-white striped, hence the tiger name.

If the population is growing because of reproduction, not because the shrimp are moving in from other waters, Morris said there is almost no chance the species could be eradicated.

“I don’t think it would be possible, not in my opinion,” he said. “We just don’t have the biotechnology tools to do that, like we do with ‘pests’ in agriculture. I always like to be optimistic, and maybe those tools could be developed, but it would many years and a lot of money for research.”

No one, Morris said, can be sure yet how the tiger shrimp will affect North Carolina’s prized native shrimp. Millions of pounds are caught and sold each year, and Morris called the population “robust and dynamic.” But, he added, shrimp are an annual crop, and the population is heavily dependent upon environmental factors, such as rainfall. Shrimp like high salinity levels, and heavy rainfall in the spring can decrease salinity and affect the shrimp crop significantly.

In other words, if the tiger shrimp reproduce well and the native shrimp don’t, there’s no telling what could happen; the answer, Morris said, will come, if it comes at all, with continued research and ecological impact studies.

In the end, we all might do well to learn to love our new shrimp.

As with the impact, the question of exactly how the tiger shrimp got here is, for now, unanswered. Though there is speculation it might have arrived via ocean currents after being released from aquaculture operations in the Caribbean or in ballast water in a ship, Morris said the ultimate answer might come from genetic research, using DNA.

Since the USGS announced the results of its comparative surveys of 2010 and 2011 tiger shrimp catches, headlines in some media have been alarming. One, for example, brought to mind Japanese horror films about Godzilla and other mutant creatures: “Giant Cannibal Tiger Shrimp Are Taking Over U.S. Waters.”

Morris said it’s true that the tigers do eat other shrimp, but so do other shrimp, not to mention fish. The difference is the Asians are larger and eat more.

“They are no more carnivorous than other shrimp,” Morris said. “But if those kinds of headlines catch the eye and then people read the stories and learn more about invasive species and why they are bad, then I don’t really mind. Maybe this will help people learn a lesson.”

Morris added that officials have been monitoring the tigers, which can weigh over a quarter of a pound, since at least 1998.

They are native to the Indo-West Pacific, where, they’re a common aquaculture species, with worldwide production in 2009 coming in at 770,000 tons valued at over $3.5 billion.

That’s a huge industry; the entire U.S. domestic commercial fishing industry in 2010 landed 8.2 billion pounds of seafood, worth $4.5 billion, according to NOAA figures. In 2010, North Carolina commercial fishermen landed 5.45 million pounds of all species of shrimp, worth $10.7 million, according to fisheries division statistics. Only about 10 percent of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. each year are caught or raised domestically.

Trish Murphey, the state Division of Marine Fisheries’ central district biological supervisor in Morehead City, last year said the division is concerned, but added that it’s too early to tell if there is or will be a problem with the tiger shrimp here. She said she didn’t think tiger shrimp were being raised anywhere in the United States, let alone North or South Carolina, and added that any such operation would require a state permit. Most of the North Carolina tiger shrimp reports, she said, came after Hurricane Irene hit the area in late August.

Landings of the tigers aren’t really expected until later in the summer and into fall, but anyone who catches one is urged to save it and contact the division. Fishermen should freeze the shrimp, record the date and location the shrimp were taken, and contact Murphey by phone at 800-682-2632 or by email.

She is also interested in knowing if the shrimp were caught in a trawl, a skimmer, a cast net or by another method.

This story is provided courtesy of the Tideland News, a weekly newspaper in Swansboro. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Tideland News to provide readers with more stories of coastal interest. Story by Brad Rich.

As the pest populations boom, bed bugs can, and will hitchhike into your school. The school can be bed bug free one day and have bed bugs brought in the next. For school administrators and facilities managers, bed bugs arriving at the school can be a recipe for big headaches. The formula for success in dealing with bed bugs is to prepare for the inevitable, and educate everyone. This presentation discusses why bed bugs are such a challenge and how you can be proactive.

The key is to educate everyone, as much as possible to stop bed bugs at their source, 99% of the time this is the home. To do this you must engage the entire school community by educating the administration, maintenance and custodial staff, faculty, staff, students and especially the parents. Next, develop a school-specific written “bed bug action plan” in advance of problems including the development of specific procedures and responsibilities when responding to a bed bug sightings, incidents, and possible bites on students, and things to avoid. The presentation also reviews how and where to inspect for bed bugs, how to manage bed bugs with control tactics that are consistent with school IPM guidelines and regulations; and bed bug prevention such as reducing hiding spaces through clutter containment and removal, limiting the items being brought to school, and proper coat and backpack storage. Finally we address avoiding litigation due to bed bugs.

This presentation discusses why bed bugs are so challenging and how your school can be proactive.

Title: Bed Bugs Go to School
Date: Monday, June 18, 2012
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

Register now at http://www.extension.org/pages/63411

About the Webinar

Weeds in the organic pasture can reduce the quantity and the stand life of desirable forage plants. These unwanted plants can be more aggressive than existing or desired forage species and compete for light, water, and nutrients. Weeds may also diminish the quality and palatability of the forage available for livestock grazing, and certain weed species are potentially poisonous to grazing animals. In this webinar, Dr. Sid Bosworth will address several approaches to organic weed management, including weed species identification and their lifecycles.

About the Presenter

Sid Bosworth is an Associate Extension Professor in the Plant and Soil Science Department at the University of Vermont (UVM) and serves as a specialist in agronomy for UVM Extension. Dr. Bosworth teaches courses at UVM in Forage and Pasture Management, Turf Managment and Weed Ecology/Management, and has conducted applied research in the areas of alfalfa/grasss management and quality, nutrient and manure management of cool season grasses and corn for silage, pasture management, organic wheat production, and the evaluation of perennial grasses for biomass production for thermal energy. His Extension programs focus on crop and pasture management and utilization, integrated crop management, low input turf management, and grasses for biomass energy. He developed and maintains the Vermont Crops and Soils Homepage (http://pss.uvm.edu/vtcrops). He has a Ph.D. in crop physiology from the University of Kentucy and an M.S. in agronomy and a B.S. in animal science from Auburn University.

Register for all upcoming eOrganic webinars and view our archived webinar recordings at http://www.extension.org/pages/25242

In mid-April, Gus Lorenz, Arkansas Extension entomologist, began running bollworm traps. At this time of year, 20 to 30 bollworms are normally collected per trap.

“The first week of May, the trap counts were way outside the norm,” said Lorenz. “We’re averaging almost 400 moths per trap. Some of the traps had over 1,000 moths each. We just don’t get those kinds of numbers this time of year.”

Farmers weary of the pest are receiving no break as this season’s early numbers boom follows a bollworm-heavy 2011. The truly worrying thing is that, last year “we didn’t see these populations until June. Farmers certainly remember how bad bollworms were last season. These pests are at least a month ahead of schedule.”

Lorenz, interviewed by Farm Press on Monday (May 7), spoke on the need for producers to begin scouting now, the spike of all sorts of pest populations through the state, input expenses and treatment concerns. Among his comments:

More on bollworms…

“There are a lot of bollworms out there, right now. Question is: where are they going and what are they laying eggs on? There aren’t very many places for them to lay eggs. Seedling soybeans and knee-high corn and wild hosts are available.

“With these numbers, I’m concerned that we’ll begin seeing some bad defoliation on seedling soybeans. We’ve never had to deal with this situation in whorl-stage corn so we’re not sure what the impact of these worms will be, or the extent of the damage they’ll cause.

“Certainly, though, growers and consultants need to be aware of the threat. They need to be out scouting already because the bollworms will show up somewhere. The bollworm larvae will begin hatching soon. Damage from them will likely pop up in soybeans and corn – particularly refuge corn — at the tail end of this week and into next.”

On garden webworms and armyworms…

“A couple of years ago, there was a garden webworm outbreak. This year, garden webworm and fall armyworm numbers are pretty high already in the soybeans.

“Usually, those kinds of pests aren’t a concern in seedling soybeans at this time of year. Not this year – the insect activity for this time of year is as high as I’ve seen.

“And we’re coming off a true armyworm population that was in the wheat crop. That population ended up moving into corn and rice. We had a lot of damage from true armyworms in rice. This is one of the worst true armyworm infestations I’ve seen in my career.”

On tarnished plant bugs and budgeting for extra treatments…

“With this warm spring, my concern is not only with the bollworms. Let me tell you about tarnished plant bugs – the Number One pest in cotton. Right now, we can go out almost anywhere in our cotton-growing region, make 10 sweeps in a wild host, and find over 100 plant bugs. That’s happened for the last several weeks. We’ve seen those numbers around Marianna and Pine Bluff.

“All this means the pest pressure will require extra sprayings and it will be expensive for our growers. They need to prepare for at least one or two extra insecticide applications.”

Read the rest of the story at Delta Farm Press.

What in the World Triggers Asthma? What Every School Should Know

Asthma is a serious, sometimes life-threatening chronic respiratory disease that affects the quality of life for almost 25 million Americans, including an estimated 7 million children. Although there is no cure for asthma yet, asthma can be controlled through medical treatment and management of environmental triggers. EPA is committed to educating all Americans about asthma so that everyone knows what asthma is, how the environment can affect asthma patients and how to manage environmental asthma triggers. Join us in this webinar to learn about asthma triggers, how to prevent or avoid them, and what resources are available to educate yourself and others on how to take action to reduce asthma attacks.

Date: May 15, 2012 • Time: 4 pm – 5 pm Eastern Time

Speakers: Karen Scott, US Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Education in Action Team Lead, http://epa.gov/education

Leyla Erk McCurdy, National Environmental Education Foundation, Senior Director of Health and Environment, http://www.neefusa.org/health/asthma/index.htm

Donna Rogers, US Environmental Protection Agency, School Flag Program Team Lead, http://www.airnow.gov/schoolflag

Audience: Educators, School Administrators, and Concerned Caregivers

Webinar pre-registration information:  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/986638296

Call-in number: (877) 290-8017; Conference ID # 75221317
Please call in 10-15 minutes before the start time for the webinar.

Second webinar:

What Impact is Asthma Having on Student Learning in Your District?

Wednesday, May 23, 2012
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. EDT

ASBO International is hosting this webinar in observance of Asthma Awareness Month in May. Asthma is the most prevalent chronic condition in children and accounts for 13,000 million missed school days each year. It is estimated that 1 in 10 children in the U.S. have asthma indicating that a child suffering with asthma could be found in every classroom.

Join Diane Rhodes from North East Independent School District (NEISD) and hear their story of creating healthy environments through the Asthma Awareness Education Program. Since 2006, NEISD has taken great strides in communicating the importance of maintaining a healthy environment as it relates to the student’s capacity to learn. Their program incorporates disease management guidelines and IAQ best practices into school district policies and practice. The district’s four component approach and six key drivers of the IAQ Tools for Schools framework has been effective in implementing this EPA award winning program to ensure the health of all students, especially for its 8,000 environmentally-sensitive students.

Presenter: Diane Rhodes B.B.A., R.R.T., AE-C, R.C.P., Director, Department of Environmental Health
North East Independent School District, San Antonio, TX

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/692330454

See the details below for each webinar:

(1) Fire Ant Control Made Easy – Thursday, May 10 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT

Frustrated trying to control fire ants? If so, join us for an online seminar, Fire Ant Control Made Easy, on Thursday, May 10 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT.

Killing fire ants is actually easier than you think—if you understand how they live. This seminar will help you learn how to apply integrated pest management tactics that are as economical and environmentally friendly as possible. You’ll also learn about fire ant biological control agents such as the Pseudacteon phorid flies.

If you have specific questions that you want us to address during the webinar, post them to the Imported Fire Ant eXtension Facebook page (Fire Ant Info).

Find more information on fire ants at www.extension.org/fire+ants or on Facebook (Fire Ant Info), Twitter (@FireAntInfo), or YouTube (eXfireants).

To participate, log in as “guest” at: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/fireant

Presenters
Bastiaan Drees, Vicky Bertagnolli-Heller, Fudd Graham, Jason Oliver

Event Location
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/fireant

(2) Ant Control Made Easy – Thursday, May 17, 2012, 10:00am CDT
Are ants driving you crazy?

If so, join us for the webinar, Ant Control Made Easy on Thursday, May 17 from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT (10 to 11 a.m. CDT or 8 to 9 a.m. PDT) and brought to you by the Urban Integrated Pest Management Community.

Managing ants is actually easier than you think—if you understand how they live. This webinar will help you learn how to apply integrated pest management tactics that are as economical and environmentally friendly as possible.

Topics:

How Can You Tell if You Have Odorous House Ants? 
Dr. Karen Vail, Tennessee State University

Understanding the Biology and Behavior of Carpenter Ants, 
Dr. Dan Suiter, University of Georgia

Managing Problems with Pharaoh Ants, 
Dr. Michael Merchant, Texas A&M University

Find more information on Urban Integrated Pest Management

Website: www.extension.org/urban_integrated_pest_management

Facebook: www.facebook.com/urbanipm.page

Twitter: http://twitter.com/URBANIPMtweets

To participate, log in as “guest” at : https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/urbancop

If you have specific questions that you want us to address during the webinar, post them here (http://learn.extension.org/events/526), or to the Urban Integrated Pest Management eXtension Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/urbanipm.page

Presenters
Karen Vail, Michael Merchant, Dan Suiter

Event Location
https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/urbancop