Lace bugs is one of them.

Yeah, this is the time of year where a number of different insects and mites are active or creating problems.

And one of them is the lace bug.

And if you go out and look at your sycamores, your oak trees, even your eggplants, and notice this bronzing, browning look on the leaf underside, and you'll see these Black nymphs, or the adults who are lacy-looking, hence their common name, and they are sucking insects, but they feed differently from aphids and wireflies.

They're more likely to feed like two-spotted spider mite feeding the chlorophyll, but they can cause damage.

It's mostly noticeable, especially in large trees, so we don't really recommend to do anything.

because some beneficial insects such as green lacewings will actually feed on them.

We want to make sure that we're continuing to water, right?

Lace bugs is one of them.

Yeah, this is the time of year where a number of different insects and mites are active or creating problems.

And one of them is the lace bug.

And if you go out and look at your sycamores, your oak trees, even your eggplants, and notice this bronzing, browning look on the leaf underside, and you'll see these Black nymphs, or the adults who are lacy-looking, hence their common name, and they are sucking insects, but they feed differently from aphids and wireflies.

They're more likely to feed like two-spotted spider mite feeding the chlorophyll, but they can cause damage.

It's mostly noticeable, especially in large trees, so we don't really recommend to do anything.

because some beneficial insects such as green lacewings will actually feed on them.

We want to make sure that we're continuing to water, right?

Raymond, where do we stand on bagworm activity right now? We're really beyond the spraying point?

Yeah, Jeff, at this point, the usual products we recommend are like spinosad or BTK, which is the Bacillus thuringiensis curistachy bacteria.

Those are really going to be not effective because the caterpillars in the bags are getting larger and they're less susceptible to those materials.

So right now, we're getting close where...

The caterpillars will start forming a cap on the bag and thinking about reproduction.

So if you still see bagworms on there, you can apply a pyrethroid like a bifenthrin or cyfluthrin.

But be aware that those materials are very harmful to beneficial insects and mites, as well as pollinators like honeybees.

In terms of lace bugs, what are we seeing there?

Raymond, where do we stand on bagworm activity right now? We're really beyond the spraying point?

Yeah, Jeff, I, at this point, the usual products we recommend are around like, uh, spinosad or Btk, which is the Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki bacteria.

Those are really gonna be not effective because the caterpillars in the bags are getting larger, and they're less susceptible to those materials.

So right now, uh, we're getting close where the caterpillars will start, uh, forming a cap on the bag and thinking about reproduction.

So if you still see bagworms on there, you can apply a pyrethroid, like a bifenthrin or cyfluthrin, but be aware that those materials are very harmful to beneficial insects and mites as well as pollinators like honeybees, so you don't wanna spray your plants.

Now, conifers we don't worry about, but if, if you get bagworms like on a crabapple tree or something, you don't wanna spray when the bees are active, so do it in the early morning or late in the evening, and thorough coverage is critical.

Those products are contact, so if they're not coming out of the bag, you're not gonna get contact on them.

In terms of lace bugs, what are we seeing there?

Where do we stand right now?

Well, they're out there and they're getting bigger by the day.

So let's start off basically with the fundamentals.

When they're about a quarter inch to an eighth of an inch, which some areas they are, Then they're more susceptible to the spray applications we commonly recommend, like BTK, which is known as Bacillus thuringiensis curastachy.

It's a bacteria.

And then the other one is Spinosad, commonly in Captain Jack's dead bug brew.

Both of those are stomach poison, so they have to eat it.

In terms of vegetable pests, there's quite a few.

Where do we stand right now?

Well, they're out there and they're getting bigger by the day.

So let's start off basically with the fundamentals.

When they're about a quarter inch to an eighth of an inch, which some areas they are, Then they're more susceptible to the spray applications we commonly recommend, like BTK, which is known as Bacillus thuringiensis curastachy.

It's a bacteria.

And then the other one is Spinosad, commonly in Captain Jack's dead bug brew.

Both of those are stomach poison, so they have to eat it.

In terms of vegetable pests, there's quite a few.

What are some things that you talk about for controlling them, but also being safe to some of the beneficial bugs that you don't want to control, like butterflies or bees that might be pollinating your flowers?

Well, yeah, basically the strategies for turf grass management of pests The first one is keep your turfgrass as healthy as possible with proper fertility, watering, have a well-established root mass so even if you do get some insects to feed on the roots, there's a large root mass that could compensate for that.

The ones that feed on the surface like the caterpillars and chinch bugs and then the bluegrass bill bugs or the other bill bugs we have that will feed below, they're a little more challenging to do with cultural practices.

But of course, number one is provide your turfgrass, give it a deep and frequent watering so the grass is down, the roots are down below.

So if there's any dry conditions, they're not susceptible to stress.

And then after that, it's the appropriate use of insecticides.

And of course, a turfgrass is sort of a biological desert for most pollinators.

So there's a bunch of different strategies for controlling these different pests, but as you're going throughout the summer, early in the spring, middle of the summer, and then getting into fall, what are the different complexes of which insects that you'll be seeing or kind of their life cycle of when you might be seeing them out in your lawn?

And so

nice people, nice person, yeah.

So anyway, but what I want to talk about is bagworms, and we're going to cover it in very detail, give you a background, life cycle, behavior damage, how to deal with them, and questions and discussion.

How many out there deal with bagworms? Everybody.

That's a no-brainer, okay? So bagworms, and I don't like the worm because caterpillars are not worms, they should be called bag caterpillars, but that's what happens when you get English language.

But there's many different caterpillar pests that we deal with in Kansas.

This is on the far right is Mimosa, far left is Mimosa webworm, Genestic caterpillar on the center, Fall webworm, and then Yellow-necked caterpillar, Red-budded leaf folder, and the Eastern tent caterpillar.

So are bad wounds more widely spread now or is there a natural boundary like really harsh cold winters keep the population more to the southern half?

In terms of ticks, I know there's a variety of ticks and we are seeing some ticks.

April through November is typically the period of tick activity, especially with some of the unmanaged areas, people getting out, walking around, taking walks.

Yeah, we have pretty much Lone Star tick, American dog tick.

We do have the black-legged and deer tick, which is the vector of the Lyme disease.

And of course, Lone Star tick is the vector of the alpha-gal, or what we call the alpha-gal syndrome.

And that's where you have these allergies to meat, and it's becoming more prevalent.

But the way to deal with ticks is to avoid them.

We are getting closer.

I know actually ticks are somewhat of an issue right now.

Ticks are going to potentially be an issue because with the unmanaged vegetation, things coming out, and this April through November is, I would say, typically the tick season, people need to be aware of ticks.

A couple of pointers is if you're going to be going outside more as the weather warms up, And you stay on the trails.

Don't wander off into unmanaged areas because that's where ticks are most likely to be there.

It's a favorable environment.

They don't like high temperatures, low humidity.

So that's why you mow these areas if you can.

One other thing to cover, clover mites, what should we know about that?

Raymond, we're not seeing a lot of activity just yet, but there are some things that maybe we should be on the lookout for.

Yeah, Jeff, what we're seeing now in this early spring is reproductive or swarming reproductive ants and termites.

And people get really concerned.

They see these winged termites or ants, and they start thinking, oh, my gosh, you might have an infestation.

Let's step backwards.

Well, that's just a natural evolutionary process, and most of them will die anyway.

But what's going to happen is they're going to fly, the queen will mate with the males, find a place to establish a nest, and then that starts the colonies for the next generation, okay, or this coming generation.

In terms of other insects that we might see, what else might be an early arrival?

What do we need to know about that?

Yeah, Jeff, blister beetles, first of all, there's a wide diversity of them.

I know there's concern in the livestock industry because certain blister beetles, they give off a chemical called cantharidin.

And if they get into hay or forage that the horses or cattle are feeding upon, it can make them sick.

The publications that I developed this year are related to the three-striped, the three-lined blister beetle and the ash-gray blister beetle.

Both of those are pested vegetable crops.

The ash-gray feeds on eggplant and the three-striped, the three-lined feeds on chard.

In terms of the mimosa webworm, what does the publication cover there?

Raymond, we're at that time of year when the nuisance pests are starting to make their way from outside to inside.

Yeah, Jeff, as the temperature gets cooler, we're getting into the 30s and 40s, we have a series of insects and mite pests, more of a nuisance pest, not mostly a pest of humans or plants that are going to decide to come in the house in overwinter.

That includes the Asian ladybird beetle, which I know many are familiar with.

It comes inside, congregates on the south side of the windows and stays there until spring.

They're active, but there are others like the box elder bug, the elm leaf beetle, cluster flies, clover mites, they'll be moving in.

What can you do? Well, the first thing you should probably do is caulk any cracks and crevices on the south side of the foundation.

That helps.

This would also be a good time then to start thinking about our pest programs.

Okay, so then what about the fall webworm? What's the difference there?

That's a good question, Jeff.

The fall webworm, very similar to mimosa webworm, they create these webs in the trees.

And if you drive the back roads of Kansas, you'll see them on walnuts and pecans and hickory and those type of trees.

But that's the second generation.

And eventually the trees are going to lose leaves, deciduous ones, and allocate resources down to the growth into storage roots.

The first generation is spring.

And just because we're into fall doesn't mean that we might not see some mosquitoes still.