As Temperatures Cool, Brown Recluse Spiders Are Not So Reclusive

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Although a frequently misidentified species, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) reminds homeowners of the real health threats posed by the brown recluse spider as fall begins. With bites that can take three hours to develop and three weeks or longer to heal, the brown recluse injects a venom, which can cause severe allergic reactions, notably in children, the elderly or those with preexisting medical conditions.

Often identified by a dark brown violin shape on its back, the brown recluse spider is predominantly found in the Midwest and Southeast of the United States. This species is well known for its “secretive” behaviors as it prefers to take residence in warm, dry and dark environments, such as woodpiles, basements and closets.

“As the brown recluse is known for its bites, many assume that this spider is aggressive when the opposite is true,” said Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for NPMA. “This arachnid bites, usually unintentionally, when it feels trapped. Whether we dig through our storage in the attic or wear a piece of clothing in which a brown recluse has made its home, their bites are reactionary. Therefore the sheer presence of this pest can increase the potential pest-related health risks facing homeowners and their families.”

NPMA offers the following tips to help prevent contact with brown recluse spiders:

* Avoid keeping clothing and shoes on the floor and consider storing inside plastic containers.
* Shake out all clothing that has been in a hamper before wearing or washing.
* Keep garages, attics and basements clean and clutter free.
* If you are bitten by a spider, contact your primary care physician for medical advice.
* If you have an infestation in your home, contact a licensed pest professional to inspect and treat the pest problem.

For information regarding brown recluse spiders or to find a pest professional, visit: www.pestworld.org.

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Fighting Reveals Lack of Genetic Connection

University of Georgia scientists are using DNA technology and old-fashioned animal instinct to find the best ways to control wood-destroying carpenter ants.

“Carpenter ants are a major pest problem nationwide,” said Dan Suiter, an entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “They cause significant damage each year.”

Wood-chewers

Unlike termites, carpenter ants don’t eat wood. They chew it. “They expand it into a nest gallery that looks like Swiss cheese,” Suiter said. “Then they live in the galleries.”

Carpenter ants are big and black and live mostly in trees, he said. In the Northeast, carpenter ants destroy more wood than termites.

Based on the UGA Griffin, Ga., campus, Suiter and CAES genetic entomologist Tracie Jenkins test baits designed to kill the ants. They are monitoring 20 sites in the local city park because the hardwood trees there replicate those found in a typical suburban neighborhood.

They monitor the test sites at night when the ants forage for food.

Huge and nocturnal

“During the day, they live up in the leaves and in hollowed-out tree holes and knotholes,” Jenkins said. “At night, they come down, and you can literally see the well-worn foraging trails they habitually use.”

Ant samples are taken from the park back to the laboratory where Jenkins uses DNA biotechnology to determine the ants’ lineage or family relationships, which form colony structure.

“We assume each colony has a single queen, so knowing the queen’s maternal fingerprint will help us track her progenies’ movements,” she said. “The winged ants are the ones that mate. We’ve discovered colonies that are physically far apart can actually be descended from the same female queen.”

Once a colony’s genetic structure and movements are known, Suiter and Jenkins can develop management strategies and determine which baits are effective.

Families don't fight

To find out if colonies are related, Suiter said, you can also do what he calls “ant behavioral studies.”

He places ants from different sites in a Petri dish. The ants that fight each other are not related.
“The ants have colony-specific smells on their bodies,” Suiter said.

Ants pick fights by using their antennae to spar, he said. Then it gets aggressive.

“They grab each other by a leg, and one will take another’s leg off,” he said. “Then they lock jaws and do a circle-dance.”
Deadly acid

Then somebody bring out the heavy artillery.

“Carpenter ants can spray formic acid,” Suiter said. “So, the first one to turn around and spray formic acid is the winner. It’s like getting a face full of tear gas, and they have to be very irritated to do it.”

After six months have passed, Suiter and Jenkins will return to the test sites at the park. If they find ants, they will again take samples and run DNA analyses to determine if the ants are from the same colony that initially occupied the site.

“We want to eliminate the ants in a colony by using the baits, then go back and see if the ants that come back are from the same colony,” he said. “To truly know how well the baits work, we have to know if the same colony of ants or a different colony move in after we eliminate the first colony.”

To see carpenter ants, go outside after 9 p.m. armed with a flash light. “You may see a couple in the daytime, but you’ll see hundreds if not thousands at night,” Suiter said.

By Sharon Dowdy
University of Georgia

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Pink Hibiscus Mealybug Found in North Georgia

Pink hibiscus mealybugs were recently found north of Atlanta in suburban Forsyth County, experts with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension report. The newcomer to the state is a very destructive insect pest of hibiscus and 300 other plants.

The discovery was the result of an alert home gardener who was curious about a difficult to control mealybug infestation. The insects were feeding on a tropical hibiscus in her landscape. She brought a sample to her UGA Extension agent who shared her suspicion that the culprit might be pink hibiscus mealybugs.

Identified and verified

Electronic images were relayed to the UGA Homeowner IPM Insect Diagnostic Clinic in Griffin, Ga. where a technician confirmed the identification. University of Florida entomologists, who have worked extensively with this pest, also quickly confirmed the specimens were indeed the pink hibiscus mealybug.

Pink hibiscus mealybug is native to Southeast Asia but is now well established in Florida, Louisiana and Texas. The pest likely came to north Georgia as a very low-level infestation on tropical hibiscus from south Florida.

Pink and destructive

Pink hibiscus mealybugs look similar to other Georgia mealybugs, but are pinkish in color. Thus, their name. The insect has relatively little of the white wax that adorns the bodies of most mealybugs.

Initially, pink hibiscus mealybug injury may be hard to see, but they can reproduce rapidly with five to six generations a year in north Georgia. As populations grow, injury becomes strikingly evident. Infested plants are severely stunted and malformed, as if treated with an herbicide.

The disfigured foliage is often covered with sticky liquid waste from the mealybug feeding. This also supports growth of a black sooty mold fungus.

Infestations will often be noticeable from afar due to the numerous snow white egg sacs which look much like clusters of small Q-tips on plant stems and foliage.

Could harm peanuts and cotton

The pest may not survive north Georgia winters. Pink hibiscus mealybug is a truly nasty pest -- one that gardeners, landscape professionals and nurseries hope can be eradicated from Georgia.
“We can’t afford to have this imported pest damaging two of our major crops, peanuts and cotton; nor can we afford the potential losses to our horticulture industry as well as the damage it can inflict in home gardens,” said Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin. “We must all work to keep this pest from becoming established in Georgia.”

What to do if you find them

If homeowners find mealybugs in their landscape, they should contact their local UGA Extension office. Nursery owners should contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture Plant Protection Office at (800) 282-5852.

A sample, including the white egg sacks and small pink mealybugs, should be cut from the infested plant. Immature mealybugs move on wind currents so it is important to place samples in sealed plastic bags. For this reason, samples should not be transported in the back of open trucks.

Plant destruction and replacement is often the best approach to take when controlling pink hibiscus mealybugs in home landscapes. Cut and double-bag infested plants or, where feasible, burn infested plant materials.

By Dan Horton
University of Georgia

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Insect Scouting Reveals Pests

If you want to control insects in your landscape, a University of Georgia expert says you have to be a good scout. But remember, a little damage won’t hurt.

Like a good Boy Scout or Girl Scout, an insect scout must be prepared and armed with the proper tools like a notebook, sticky tape, a magnifying lens and tweezers. Inspect your landscape and record insect-damaged plants in your notebook and use the lens to inspect more closely. Inventory the insects you see.

To check for scale insects, Kris Braman, an entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, offers this tip. Place a piece of sticky tape on the plant, remove and look for hatching crawlers.

“The crawlers are the only mobile stage of these otherwise sessile pests. If you find crawlers on the sticky tape, it’s time to control the scale infestation,” she said.

If you see a bug that you know has been munching on your plants, you can just pull it off and get rid of it. Or, you can just live with a little damage.

“Insect pests can damage plants, but if only 10 percent of the plant is affected, you need to learn to live with a little imperfection,” she said.

If the number of insects and damage is too much, a pesticide may need to be used, she said. For help selecting the right one, call the local UGA Cooperative Extension office at 1-800-ASK-UGA1.

by Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia

Sharon Omahen is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Tips for Green Summer Pest Control

ARA – Living green doesn’t mean yielding your yard to birds, bugs and critters that can be both a nuisance and a health hazard. It’s possible to keep unwanted animal guests away from your gardens, landscaping, lawn and outdoor living areas without contributing to the groundwater contamination associated with many chemical pesticides.

With drought conditions expected to persist in many areas of the country, the issue of groundwater contamination is drawing plenty of attention. Many communities are moving to curb products – including pesticides and fertilizers – known to cause groundwater contamination. When it comes to protecting your property from common summer pests, non-lethal, all-natural methods that rely on sound, sight, taste deterrents and roost inhibitors not only protect the environment, they’re more effective as well.

“Green pest-control measures actually work better than lethal alternatives,” says Mona Zemsky, a technician and pest control expert with Bird-X, a company that specializes in products that help convince critters to take up residence elsewhere. “Killing birds and other nuisance animals is a losing proposition; you just create a vacuum that other animals will move into.”

So what green methods are most effective in ridding your landscape of unwelcome birds and animals? Here are some top options:

Scent/Taste

Another way to thwart pests is to convince them that an area is no longer safe or a good food source. For geese and birds, GooseChase and BirdShield use a food-grade derivative of concord grapes. Sprayed on grass and feeding areas, they safely and humanely make the spots unpalatable to birds and animals. The line of organic Scoot products use taste aversion – in the form of hot sauce and castor oil – to drive off pests like deer, squirrels and ground moles

Sound

Sonic and ultrasonic devices can drive off small rodents like mice, squirrels and raccoons, and common nuisance birds such as sparrows, crows and pigeons. Since ultrasonic devices are inaudible to humans, they don’t contribute to noise pollution. Sonic machines that project actual predator calls can also be effectiveA variety of devices are available that target specific pests. For example, Transonic PROtargets small animals and insects, and the Yard Gard can dissuade even deer. Effective bird-specific devices include the BirdXPeller PRO and the Ultrason X.

Sight

Farmers have used scarecrows for hundreds of years. Visual deterrents can be very effective in convincing many pests, birds especially, that an area is unsafe. The concept of the scarecrow has evolved, with devices – both low- and high-tech - that incorporate motion into the visual deterrent. On the low-tech end is an iridescent tape, easily hung outdoors, that unsettles birds with its fluttering motion and flashing colors. From a distance, the tape’s sheen mimics snake skin, further frightening bird invaders. On the high tech end, new devices use lasers to ward off birds. The Bird BLazer zaps harmless green lasers into birds’ roosting areas, creating a light show that most birds find unpleasant.

Roost Inhibitors

Birds will roost, nest, eat and defecate wherever they find an appealing spot, creating a nuisance and a health hazard. Convincing birds that a spot is no longer desirable is the optimum way to get rid of them – and prevent any more from moving in. Roost inhibitors accomplish this in a variety of ways. Some, like Bird-X’s spike strips (made of recycled materials) and a special netting, make it difficult for birds to land. Others, such as gels and liquids, make surfaces feel tacky and unappealing to birds, but cause no damage to the structures they’re applied to.

“These methods are not only green for the environment and human for the animals, they’re benign for humans as well,” Zemsky points out. “You won’t need rubber gloves to use them, they have no warning labels, you don’t need to store them in child-proof places or wonder what they might do to you after decades of exposure.”

To learn more about effective, environmentally safe, non-lethal bird control methods, visit www.Bird-X.com or call (800) 662-5021.

Courtesy of ARAcontent