On this page the following entries were made in the “Entomology” category. Check out other categories in our Archives.
Bug Blog Archives for “Entomology”
Three Types of Predatory Mites
Based on the information in this article, one might be able to better choose a predatory mite what with knowing their expected behaviors.
There was an interesting article titled “Understanding Predatory Mites: Keys To Successful Biocontrol” in the Association of Educational and Research Greenhouse Curators (AERGC) Fall, 2007 newsletter written by Kansas State University (KSU) entomologist and AERGC member Dr. Raymond A. Cloyd. The article covered the basics, describing biocontrol in general, then it delved into the use of predatory mites explaining how an understanding of their individual characteristics is key to using them successfully — especially when understanding leads to strategic multi-species implementations.
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Red Ladybug, Black Ladybug
Ladybugs are insects, and this means they undergo a complete metamorphosis: hatching from eggs into larvae, then transforming into pupae, and finally emerging as adult beetles. When they first emerge from their snug pupal cocoons, they look like ladybugs in shape and size, but their coloration isn’t yet set; they will typically be a pale orange-yellow or a grayish color. You see, when they first emerge their wing covers, also known as eletra — their shells or modified wing covers if you will — are wet and quite soft. It’s nothing a few hours in the sun won’t fix, though.
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Some Tick Tech
Remember — don’t get ticked off, [just] get the tick off!
Every summer ticks make headlines, mostly because of their notorious ability to spread disease. Thus, for the month of May, we asked our friend Dave Simser to produce an article for publication here. It’s a little bit on the technical side, but this is some good general information to keep you in the know and to mitigate the dangers associated with ticks. (Intro by Mike Cherim.)
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Trichogramma ostriniae
Co-authored and photo by Abby Seaman and Mike Hoffmann of Cornell University.
The Trichogramma are a group of minute wasps (smaller than a needle’s eye) that lay their eggs in pest moth eggs, where the wasp offspring develop, kill the pest larvae, and produce new wasps. One species, Trichogramma ostriniae (TosTtm), was imported from China in 1990 and has been shown to be effective at controlling European corn borer, a serious insect pest of sweet corn, peppers, and potatoes. It may also hold potential against other pests such as cabbage looper, diamond back moth and grape berry moth.
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Further Reading
In addition to what we offer on our Required Reading page, and the vast information on this site, there’s a wealth of information about biocontrol and IPM integrated pest management on the web nowadays as a quick Google search will prove. Here are some selected search results that may enlighten, entertain, and lead you to even more information.
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Swirskii the Terrible?
When the predatory mite Neoseiulus =Amblyseius swirskii was first announced earlier this year and credited with having the potential to control whiteflies and other pests, we were pretty interested. Seemingly overnight this predator was introduced and offered for sale. But having seen quick introductions of this sort go bad before — and us wasting time and money researching and creating the supporting materials to properly purvey them only to be able to say we were offering the critter de jour — we decided to wait for some feedback and for science to catch up with marketing. We’re glad we did as we’ve recently got some not-so-favorable reports indicating that the jury is indeed still out for deliberations.
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