Posts Tagged ‘insects’
Turf Insects – Discovering
Q: My grass looks yellow and is gradually disappearing in a ten foot square area. How can I tell if this is caused by insects or by disease? A: Bugs in turf are very hard to find with the naked...
Stinkbug – Control
Q: I have a brown, funky-looking bug on my tomatoes. It flies and has large legs. Somebody told me it looked like a stink bug. Any ideas? A: Funky aptly describes stink bugs and their kin. Their body shape is...
Spiders – Beneficial for plants
Q: This morning we had heavy dew and I noticed my Foster Hollies and various surrounding shrubs were overrun with tented webs. Each tented web contained one small spider. They appeared to have a yellow striped body with a brown...
Butterfly Houses – Not Helpful
Q: My daughter gave me a butterfly house that she was told had some kind of special paper in it to keep out wasps. It didn’t work. I go to the hospital real quick if a wasp stings me but...
Gardening Books – For Children
Q: Could you/would you recommend just a few good books about gardening with kids in Georgia? A: I love “How Groundhog’s Garden Grew” by Lynne Cherry but I can’t think of any more books aimed specifically at kids. My wife,...
Tree – Climbing with Spikes
Q: I work for a tree maintenance company. Recently, we worked in a landscape a few weeks after the homeowner had had a television receiver installed up in one of his pine trees. The installer had evidently used spikes to...
Venus Flytrap – Care
Q: I was at the new Children’s Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Garden last weekend and wandered past the bog exhibit. Kids there were putting their fingers into the Venus Fly Traps to make them close. This made me wonder:...
Rat-tailed Maggot
Q: I found the weirdest things I’ve ever seen in an old log-filled trash can that had rainwater in it. When I poured out the water there were several white grub-like things that each had a long tail. They wiggled...
Wasps – Attacking Furniture
Q: For the last two years we have been plagued with a reddish-brown wasp that seems attracted to our wooden deck chairs. I have searched for a nest, but couldn’t find one. How can I rid our deck and yard...
Velvet Ant – Identifying
Q: On Saturday I noticed a large red bug crawling across my lawn. It looked like an ant but I think it was a wasp without wings. It walked at a funny angle with the rear legs higher than the...
Compost – Maggots
Q: I found a worm/grub in mass in my compost pile and am very curious as to what it might be. They are very dark gray-brown and the head end is actually the pointed end. They are literally swarming in...
Giant Resin Bee – Carpenter Bee Foe
Q: Each spring I battle with carpenter bees in my log home. However, starting each July, I see somewhat smaller bees, lighter in color, entering the circular holes left by the carpenter bees. They don’t seem to be worsening the...
Euonymus scale – Control
Q: 1. My variegated euonymus has lots of little white dots under the leaves and it doesn’t look very healthy. Can you diagnose? Q: 2. I have a row of golden euonymus shrubs that have developed scale on the leaves...
Maple – Clawed by Cat
Q: I wonder if you could help me determine what is wrong with my Japanese maple. About 2 months ago, I noticed that the upper portion of the trunk looked like it had been clawed. At first I thought it...
Pine Ambrosia Beetle
Q: I was wandering my property in Jackson county and found sawdust at the base of some pine trees. I decided it was the southern pine beetle so I took out several trees and thought I had taken care of...
Insects – Identification Online
Q: Is there a good online resource for identifying insects? A: You bet! I am really impressed with BugGuide.net which is the brainchild of Troy Bartlett of Duluth. You simply click on one of the graphic outlines of common insects...
Saddleback Caterpillar – Attacked by Parasitic Wasp
Q: I was cleaning some leaves from my small pond a week ago and my leg brushed up against this little devil. It stung worse than a bee sting! It is the weirdest little “caterpillar” I’ve ever seen. And it has...
White-marked Tussock Moth – Identification
Q: One of my first grade students found a pretty caterpillar. It was about an inch and a half long, mostly white with yellow accents. It was very skinny and had what appeared to be very large antennae that were...
