Cicada Killers
I've started getting calls from people being buzzed by Cicada Killers! Females of this large wasp dig a burrow, sting cicadas to paralyze them, carry them to the burrow & lay an egg on the paralyzed cicada. When the egg hatches, the cicada killer larva eats the paralyzed cicada thereby protecting trees from cicada damage next year. The female is oblivious to humans -- she is frantically hunting cicadas, but she might sting a cat or dog that got too curious. Females are active during July & August, then die.
The male does not sting (no ovipositor), he defends the burrow and chases away predators. He is all bluff and cannot hurt humans. Yes, the mound of soil around the burrow may ruin the look of well-groomed turf. I tell homeowners to plant ground cover -- next year's females will avoid this area.
I've added a fact sheet from Kentucky to our list of fact sheets. From this page, you can go to: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/misc/ef004.htm.
Bed Bugs
It seems that there are lots of Bed Bugs in Delaware. This is not a sanitation problem. Bed Bugs move with humans. They are extremely difficult to control. I've added a fact sheet to our list of fact sheets. This link will take you to: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm.
Why are Bed Bugs exploding? Most of us think it is because we no longer do broadcast sprays for cockroaches anymore. The good news is that Bed Bugs carry no human diseases.
Brown Recluse Spider
One specimen of this spider was brought into Entomology & Wildlife Ecology this month from a residence in Newark. It was positively confirmed by Dr. Mark Lacey. If you would like to see it, let me know. We are in the process of working with the Pest Control Company charged with the treatment to determine if this is an isolated individual or a reproducing population. Brown Recluse spiders are not known east of Tennessee/ Kentucky. This is the second record for Brown Recluse in Delaware. The first, in 1982, was found at Dover Airforce Base and confirmed by Dewey Caron. No more specimens were found in Dover. You may have heard that Delaware doctors have patients that have been bitten by Brown Recluse and vets say Brown Recluse are "everywhere." If this is true, then we need to see the specimens. We have no Brown Recluse in the Reference Collection at UD, in spite of many years of entomologists collecting arthropods. Of all the spiders that have been brought in for identification, none have been Brown Recluse. There are other causes for non-healing wounds on patients and the spiders the vets hear about may be the yellow sac spider -- another dangerous spider. If you get requests to ID spiders, let me know.
I've added a link on the Brown Recluse to our list of fact sheets that will take you to: http://dermatology.cdlib.org/DOJvol5num2/special/recluse.html. Note that the correct pronunciation is re-CLUSE (as in reclusive), not REC-luse.
Rabies reported in Newark
We have a link on our list of fact sheets that will take you to: http://ag.udel.edu/extension/horticulture/pdf/hyg/hyg-40.pdf.
For more information contact Susan Whitney King
Email: swhitney@udel.edu
Phone: 302-831-8886