June 17 , 2021
Summer Bugs: Trouble or Not?
From a late tweet : “ Why is there no cicada emoji ? After all , we ’ve had 17 years to make one ! ” Well , I hypothecate it IS potential to leave Egyptian pound ( heaps ? ) of them . I entail , if you just graduate from high school , you wo n’t see this again until your mid-30s . Austin PBS , KLRU colleague Alex Wolff happened to be visiting family in the Northeast while I was prepping this segment and kindly grabbed telecasting of Brood X cicadas . Be assured : We wo n’t find these 17 - year - cycle cicadas creating ( even more ) dealings congestion ! In this week ’s working from domicile conversation with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension entomologist Wizzie Brown , she confirm that we do not have them in Texas . “ The Brood X cicada that everyone is talking about are on the Eastern seaboard as well as in the Midwestern states , ” she said . We do have cicadas in Texas . “ We have annual cicadas ; we have some that are on varying yr lifespan cps ( 2 - 5 years ) , but they ’re just a sound of summer . ”And , please flop now , turn off the Asian giant hornet cackle ! We wo n’t see them in Texas or even in the Northeast hanging with Brood Adam cicadas . “ They only exist in Washington state currently , ” Wizzie assure us .
What we may see are cicada killer wasps . “ This is what I in person call the wasp on sex hormone because these are plausibly some of the largest wasps that we have in Texas . . . There ’s really no need to kill the cicada killer wasps , they are fairly docile , ” she noted . Cicada sea wolf wasps are solitary , so they do n’t build nest colonies under your eaves like societal paper white Anglo-Saxon Protestant . female person stab underground burrow , those revealing holes we may see . After paralyse their prey , they drag it into the tunnel to feast their grub - similar larvae . The protective males may beleaguer you , but they do n’t have cut and will give up if you take the air away . There ’s no reason to eradicate them .
A darling sight of summertime is firefly lighting up the night . Wizzie explained how to maximize that glow show : leaving leafage litter where these beetles consist their eggs . And turn off porch lights in summer to avert interfering with their flashing mating signals . I ’ve got lots of fireflies since I ’m a rooter of leaf litter that improve my grunge , we turn off porch lights , and we use no pesticide of any kind . con more about fireflies inCTG ’s consultation with Texas Master Naturalist Ben Pfeiffer , beginner of Firefly Conservation & Research .
In February , many people asked , “ Will the freeze stamp out pesky insects ? ” Nope . Wizzie breaks down their various insulating strategy and physiological adjustment . Do mention that this also applies to the beneficial dirt ball that we defend !
Instead , we ’ve perplex ramped - up dirt ball populations , thanks to much - needed rain . That drives some dirt ball to attempt drier soil on exterior paries or indoors with us . Millipedes ( oft - key as “ worm ” ) are beneficial garden chum that moulder constituent subject . Most of us would never even see them until they clump in our live spaces . Pillbugs may also sneak indoors . Like millipedes , they are helpful decomposers in the garden . They can also be a gardener ’s scourge . FromAgriLife ’s insect in the City:“When abundant – as in years of high rain – they can become a pregnant pest of landscape plants . Most alimentation postulate station in the eventide or at dark . Feeding pillbugs promptly bung on small garden plant life , and raw graft can be eat to the ground overnight . ”Anyway , since millipedes and pillbugs will dehydrate indoors , I lightly assemble them up and take them back out of doors . To prevent a repeat carrying into action , gibe around to see how they ’re getting in . Weather stripping around room access is a unproblematic office to start .
Now : What ’s in a name ? Pillbugs — miniature crustacean — also go by sowbug , roly - poly and doodlebug . Basically , whatever we called them as children ! Think back : what did your parents call them that stick with you today ?
To an bugologist like Wizzie , “ doodlebug ” is antlion larvae that looks nothing like a roly - poly!These little , fierce - depend insects dig tunnel ( cognate to cicada killer wasps ) to trap their prey — ants and others . Saturated grime brought firing ant to the control surface , too . Wizzie noted that it ’s an ideal time to scatter bait ( food embedded with pesticide ) , but avoid applying when rainfall ’s expected in 24 hours . “ It ’s kind of like eating a soggy cheeseburger . Nobody like soggy cheeseburgers . They do n’t want soggy fire ant sweetener ! ”
Mosquitoes are for sure out for blood ! The usual suspects , Aedes and Culex mosquito , lie down eggs in standing piss , so empty it wherever you’re able to . We can also treat with Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Bits that are harmless to us , pets , and wildlife ( except mosquitoes).Right now , if mosquitoes seem big or their bit most noticeable , you ’re right ! These are floodwater mosquito . Rather than laying eggs in stand up water , they position them in the soil . “ And when that territory gets swamp with weewee , hence the floodwater name , that is when those testis think of out and they go through their life sentence cycle really quickly because they know that that water source is going to dry up fairly speedily , ” she noted . Mosquito control are pointless , since they ’ll fly five miles for a rake repast ! rather , protect yourself with swooning - colored wear and topical repellents . Getrecommended repellents from the CDC .
But , we do n’t need to worry about June beetles ( June bugs ) , though plenty of them can be scarey ! old age ago , my backyard toad reduced an out - of - control universe . Like other insects , they are unawares - lived as adults . After they pupate into flying adult , they mate , lie bollock in the soil , and then get snagged by spider or toads or whatever . Their larva may be the white grub worms we see in the filth . If you grind them up , thrash about them into hoot feeders !
For sure , take a listen to the podcastBugs by the Yardfor a tight - paced , personable conversation with Wizzie and fellow A&M entomologist , where card meet knowledge . And watch Wizzie now !
Thanks for stop by ! See you next week , Linda
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