Fungus May Be The Ultimate Pest-Control
Fungus May Be The Ultimate Pest-Control
Two insects in particular plague modern humans, and those are ants and mosquitoes. Ants destroy property, sting, and spread in alarming numbers; mosquitoes bite and carry deadly diseases. But one scientist may have discovered the key to reducing, or even eliminating, their growing numbers: fungus.
Professor Nemat Keyhani is a microbiologist who is working with the fungus Beauveria bassiana as a potential pest-control agent. Reliable testing has demonstrated consistent efficacy against both fire ants and mosquitoes, but without killing butterflies, moths or other benign insects. After five years of research, Professor Keyhani is confident this fungus could be used as an effective means to eradicate ants and mosquitoes.
The fungus has received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency. The next task before widespread implementation is to perfect economical methods of application. Keyhani is hoping that private or corporate funding may be available, considering the potential marketability of ant and mosquito control.
The fungus is not harmful to humans. Insects can also become immune to its effects, but Keyhani notes that its most fruitful application may be in combination with pesticides.
Salad Greens Invaded by Cross Blister Beetle in U.S. and Canada
Salad Greens Invaded by Cross Blister Beetle in U.S. and Canada
This large red and yellow beetle is not what you want to encounter when drizzling a nice raspberry vinaigrette over your salad. Unfortunately, several people have been shocked to discover a Cross Blister Beetle, lately known as the “salad beetle” among their greens.
Sightings in the U.S. have occurred, especially in boxes of organic salad green, and now the bug is showing up in Canadian salads, too.
The beetle is toxic, and consumers are not happy when they open a washed package of greens that is bug-infested.
These bugs have been found in Earthbound Organics products, and the company has sometimes offered reimbursement, sometimes a form letter describing how beneficial bugs can be used in farming. The blister beetle is not one of the latter.
The Food and Drug Administration, or its equivalent local agency, should be contacted if you find this beetle in your salad greens. You should also contact the retailer of the product, and the company that does the packaging.
This large red and yellow beetle is not what you want to encounter when drizzling a nice raspberry vinaigrette over your salad. Unfortunately, several people have been shocked to discover a Cross Blister Beetle, lately known as the “salad beetle” among their greens.
Sightings in the U.S. have occurred, especially in boxes of organic salad green, and now the bug is showing up in Canadian salads, too.
The beetle is toxic, and consumers are not happy when they open a washed package of greens that is bug-infested.
These bugs have been found in Earthbound Organics products, and the company has sometimes offered reimbursement, sometimes a form letter describing how beneficial bugs can be used in farming. The blister beetle is not one of the latter.
The Food and Drug Administration, or its equivalent local agency, should be contacted if you find this beetle in your salad greens. You should also contact the retailer of the product, and the company that does the packaging.
Death of the Spotted Lanternfly
Death of the Spotted Lanternfly
You’ve likely never heard of this multi-colored moth, and Agricultural Department officials want to keep it that way. The bug has decimated the ash tree in parts of Michigan, and destroyed millions of these trees around the country.
In Pennsylvania, the Lanternfly has been spotted, and officials are working hard to make it nothing more than a memory. Russell Redding, Pennsylvania Agricultural Secretary, is on a mission to wipe out this pest before it does damage to the state’s fruit trees, pines and hardwoods.
“As we know from a little of the history of this pest, it is very adaptable," he said. "There are 65 different hosts, 25 that are actually grown or can grow in Pennsylvania. So we have a lot to deal with here.”
Farmers as well as the loggers could be affected, and the economic threat is potentially in the millions of dollars in Pennsylvania alone. The state Agricultural Department is working with two universities – Penn State and Kutztown University – to conduct research the insect. In addition, the department will use two other important weapons in their battle to eradicate this insect: education of the public and quarantine of certain areas in the state.
The US Department of Agriculture is firmly behind Pennsylvania’s efforts, providing resources to make Pennsylvania the land “where the spotted Lanternfly died,” according to USDA official Kevin Shea.