Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is a plant disease caused by a virus that infects more than 1,000 species of plants, including ornamentals and vegetables. Visual symptoms of TSWV vary depending on the plant that is infected, but general characteristics include yellow or brown ringspots on fruit and small, dark-colored ringspots on foliage that may[Read More…]
Elizabeth Long
Assistant Professor
Entomology
Entomology
Since hemp is still a relatively new crop in our state, we’re excited to learn more about the insect communities that are associated with this crop! For the last six weeks or so, my lab team, led by Master’s student Zach Serber (Figure 1), has been scouting outdoor CBD hemp plants for insects and their[Read More…]
I really thought I was staying ahead of the insects in my crucifer greens pretty well, but as you can see from my ravaged arugula plant (Figure 1), I was wrong! It’s that time of year again when holes may be appearing in your favorite crucifer crops, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, arugula, Brussel sprouts…and[Read More…]
What is this insect on my tomato plant? Is it a friend or foe? Answer: It is a friend! This is a super cool insect, known as a mantispid or ‘mantis fly.’ These insects are predatory and can be found around your garden, farm, or orchard feasting upon soft-bodied insect pests. Also, they are wasp[Read More…]
Info about the culprit insect: Cutworms are the larval (caterpillar) stage of moths in the family Noctuidae, which typically fly at night. Although the adult moths are not damaging, the voracious larvae can be! The caterpillars typically hide during the day and emerge at night, curling around young, tender plants to feed. How many kinds[Read More…]
Each and every spring we get reports of poor seed emergence, seedling and transplant damage in early planted crops of all sorts. Most recently in untreated sweet corn, home gardens and transplanted onions. Lucky for us, we got to dive right into this pest and see them in action, but not so lucky for the[Read More…]
You may be seeing a few “stink bug-like” insects crawling around on your cucurbit crops this time of year. However, these slightly more slender insects are not stink bugs, they are actually squash bugs. Similarly to stink bugs though, they do give off quite an odor when crushed! Squash bug adults and nymphs (immatures) (Figures[Read More…]
Recently we have received reports of swarms of hover flies (aka syrphid flies) around Indiana and wanted to take the opportunity to tell you a bit about this curious insect (Figure 1). Adult hover flies can sometimes be mistaken for bees or wasps, because they look a lot like them! Some people refer to hover[Read More…]