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2005 Texas Ento. News

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Dec. 16, 2004

LADYBUG, LADYBUG, DON'T BLEED ON MY DRAPES

DALLAS – Got ladybugs in the house?

For unknown reasons, ladybug numbers have been large in the last few years. This time of year, as temperatures cool, the beetles seek warm, dry, protected areas to hibernate. In the wild, they migrate to crevices in rocks and caves. But in populated areas, they find house eaves and attics made to order. When ladybugs gather in large numbers -- sometimes in clumps of thousands – some eventually will find their way into the living area of the house.

The ladybugs that prefer to hibernate in houses are most likely an Asian import, Knutson said. Native species of ladybug prefer to hibernate outside, in garden mulch or under leaf piles, for examples.

USAHA News
United States Animal Health Association
Contact - Larry Mark - (703) 451-3954 - webmaster@usaha.org

For immediate release:

TICK INCURSIONS INCREASE IN SOUTH TEXAS

GREENSBORO, N.C., Oct. 27, 2004 -- Infestations of cattle fever ticks along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas were sharply higher this year.

This information was presented to the USAHA Committee on Parasitic Diseases at its meeting here this week. Historically, there are annual incursions of cattle fever ticks (Boophilus annulatus and B. microplus) into south Texas when errant tick-infested livestock and free-ranging white-tailed deer from Mexico cross the Rio Grande River. Each year a variable number of such incursions result in populations of cattle fever ticks that infest cattle in Texas pastures that are usually near the river.

During the first 9 months of 2004, 77 premises were quarantined after cattle fever tick-infested cattle were identified on them by personnel from the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The number of infestations discovered this year is almost three times the number found during the same period in 2003 and is seven times greater than the total number for all of 2002.

It is noteworthy that 27 percent of this year’s outbreaks were located in the "Tick Free Area" outside the Quarantined Zone. Also, 65 percent of the infested premises have been in Zapata County, which is located in the lower one third of the nearly 800-kilometer-long Quarantined Zone and which is separated from Mexico along most of its border by Falcon Lake, a large lake formed by a dam across the Rio Grande. 

Sept. 3, 2004

IT'S WAR! FALL ARMYWORMS ON THE MARCH

OVERTON – Armyworms are on the march in East Texas.

"This time they're everywhere, in home lawns, pastures and hay meadows. It looks like this infestation is much larger than those in July and early August," said Dennis Smith, agriculture and natural resource agent with Texas Cooperative Extension in Gregg County. Smith and other Extension agents in East Texas have been getting more calls than usual this year. The outbreak has to do with the weather, said Allen Knutson, Extension entomologist.

Outbreaks typically happen in the fall, and for reasons unknown are worse when rains are frequent and temperatures are cooler, said Knutson, who is based in Dallas.

Fall armyworm moths migrate in the millions, literally, northward from South Texas in the spring and summer. As part of its natural life cycle, each moth will deposit a clump composed of 50 to100 eggs on individual blades of grass.

"During the last week of their development, armyworm larvae eat 80 percent of their total food intake. For this reason, damage can occur very quickly and hay fields or pastures can seem to disappear almost overnight."

Bees that stung Big Spring man to death were Africanized variety

By Jeff Maher
NewsWest 9
08/09/2004

New information on a recent bee attack that killed a Big Spring man. Tests to determine whether or not the honey bees were of the "Africanized" variety are now back.

According to a state lab the bees that attacked and killed 48-year-old Johnny Darden were indeed the Africanized variety, or what are popularly called "killer" bees.

The information comes from the Texas Honeybee Identification Lab.

Darden died after being stung approximately 200 times. At the time, he was trying to help remove a bee hive from a residence on the 5600 block of E. Midway Street in Big Spring. 

5 July - 12 July 2004 

Taking the Bite Out of Fire Ants: Biologists battle destructive imported ants with vampire-like flies

Not far west of the University of Texas at Austin campus, a mosaic of neighborhoods stretches south for miles toward Town Lake, which runs through the heart of Austin. Tarrytown, Enfield and other neighborhoods in this area contain closely spaced homes that range from turn-of-the-century stone mansions to simpler, clapboard houses, all surrounded by stately oaks and well-manicured lawns. Less visible to passersby are low mounds of soil here and there on these lawns, evidence of what may be the best remaining stronghold of native fire ants that have been Texas residents for millions of years.

“That area of Austin probably has the biggest patch of native fire ants left in the southern U.S.,” said Professor Larry Gilbert, who has taken on a foreign fire ant that is wiping out the natives’ territory throughout Texas and nearby states. 

“I’m a native Texan,” he said, “and I feel a great loyalty to the habitat in Texas.”

So when he saw native fire ant mounds there being rapidly replaced by those of Brazilian imports in 1981, he wanted to do something about it. The lanky ecologist has been digging deeper into fire ant ecology ever since. 

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
June 28, 2004

Scientists Seek Public Help To Track Black Witch Moths

AUSTIN, Texas — Due to numerous daily reported sightings from Texas and other surrounding states, 2004 appears to be a breakout year for the black witch moth (Ascalapha odorata).

TDH News Release
June 24, 2004

TDH Announces Year’s First Confirmed Human Case of West Nile

The victim, an adult resident of Orange County in Southeast Texas, became ill in June and later died. 

“The most important personal precaution is the use of an insect repellent,” said Joe Garrett, a TDH epidemiologist. He said more than three-fourths of the Texas cases of serious West Nile illness last year never used an insect repellent. “That’s a strong and unfortunate illustration that use of an insect repellent is extremely important,” Garrett said.

TDH recorded 439 human cases of West Nile in Texas last year, including 38 deaths. In 2002, there were 202 human cases, including 13 deaths.

May 28, 2004

GRIMES COUNTY QUARANTINED FOR AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES

CARLOS – Grimes County was added today to the state quarantine, restricting the movement of commercial bee operations following the detection of Africanized honey bees.

The addition makes 152 counties in Texas now quarantined for Africanized honey bees, according to the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, a unit of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

A sample from a colony of wild bees was collected and sent to the Texas Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station on May 24 and confirmed Friday, according to Paul Jackson, chief apiary inspector. All of the bees were destroyed.

A man was operating a bulldozer and bees in a nearby tree stung him at least 200 times. He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.

Texas Department of Health
NEWS RELEASE
May 5, 2004

Plague Identified in Rodents in West Texas, Panhandle

The Texas Department of Health (TDH) confirmed today that Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, has been detected in wood rats found dead in a rural location near the Midland-Glasscock counties border in West Texas and in fleas from wild prairie dogs in Dallam County in the Texas Panhandle.

TDH zoonosis control officials said it is not unusual to have plague in wild rodents in the western United States, including the western part of Texas.

"Plague occasionally cycles through the wild rodent population, sometimes causing large die-offs of rats, prairie dogs and other rodents," said Tom Sidwa, Austin, acting director of TDH's zoonosis control program.

Plague is usually spread by fleas that have bitten an infected rodent. The illness can be transmitted to dogs, cats and humans. Plague in humans can be effectively treated with antibiotics if detected early, Sidwa said. Infection also can occur by breathing in respiratory droplets from a live animal that has the pneumonic form of the illness.

The last recorded human case of plague in Texas was in 1993 in a Kent County resident. An average of 13 human cases a year occur in the United States.

April 30, 2004

TEXAS A&M MUSEUM A GOLD MINE OF INFORMATION

Photo Gallery

COLLEGE STATION – To most folks, dried insects are something to be swept out of corners. To John Oswald and Ed Riley, they're a gold mine.

Oswald and Riley oversee the more than 2.5 million preserved insects and other arthropod species in the Texas A&M University entomology department's insect collection.

"It is by far the largest (insect collection) in Texas," said Oswald, museum curator. "To the best of our knowledge, it is really the largest entomological research collection between California and Florida and south of Kansas."

Most of the specimens – whether dried, in alcohol, or mounted on slides – come from Texas, the surrounding states and Mexico. However, species have been collected or donated from many other countries as well.

The collection began about 100 years ago when the department of entomology was formed, although some of its specimens date back to the late-1800s.

The museum has been expanded by donated specimens, including a butterfly and moth collection from Roy Kendall of San Antonio. Kendall is a serious amateur collector who spent about 40 years gathering about 100,000 butterfly and moth specimens from Texas and other states, Oswald said.

"Kendall's is a very important collection scientifically," Oswald said, "not only for the adult butterflies it contains, but also because Roy was very interested in biology. Instead of just collecting adults, he would also obtain eggs and larvae," and raise butterflies from them, resulting in new information about their biology.

His collection also has more than 20,000 pages of notes on the butterfly and moth biology, including much information about species' food plant preferences.

Kendall has been sending the collection in one or two lots per year since the early 1990s, so about three-quarters of it are now at Texas A&M. Before he releases it to the university, Kendall makes sure all of the information about each section arrives completed and organized. His collection is well-known among Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) experts because he published many scientific papers, said Riley, associate curator of the museum.

The Texas A&M museum sees a constant traffic of loans to researchers, averaging 60 loans and 15,000 specimens per year, he added.

The museum staff also contracts with Extension to identify insects found in Texas crops, gardens, yards and landscapes. The staff identifies insects and supply biological information, formally identifying 200 to 400 species annually and handling hundreds of additional information requests, he said.

The museum also identifies insects for other state and federal agencies, he said.

"We identify not only what it is, but we also provide basic information about its biology and whether it's invasive," Oswald said.

"The A&M collection is now at a point where it's old enough and stable enough so that people want to donate their collections to us. They know it will receive the proper care and be made available to researchers around the world for study," Oswald said.

April 28, 2004

TINY BEETLE WREAKS HAVOC ON TEXAS ORNAMENTAL TREE NURSERIES

OVERTON – Long a threat, the Asian ambrosia beetle is now appearing in devastating numbers. This insect is wreaking havoc among the Southern U.S. ornamental tree growing industry this year, according to a Texas Cooperative Extension integrated pest management specialist.

Dr. Scott Ludwig and other IPM specialists have embarked in a search for an economically sound means of controlling the pests, which puts part of the East Texas $225 million-a-year nursery industry at risk.

April 27, 2004

TEXAS EXPECTING ONLY ANNUAL CICADAS

COLLEGE STATION – News outlets in some parts of the country are abuzz with excitement over the long-anticipated emergence of the periodical year cicada. One of the longest-lived insects, periodical cicadas emerge every 17 years. They are known by what some call their "incessant" buzzing.

But in Texas cicada songs will be no louder than most years, according to a Texas Cooperative Extension entomologist.

"It's not often Texans get relief from pesky insects, but this is one pest we will miss this summer," said Dr. Mike Merchant of Dallas. "The periodical cicada does not really live in Texas. The closest this species comes is Oklahoma and maybe the edge of the state, along the Red River.

April 21, 2004

TERMITE SWARMING SEASON IN HIGH GEAR

DALLAS – It's spring, and that means termites are back. But Texans can take steps to keep from being eaten out of house and home.

Eastern subterranean termites, the most common kind, cause the most economic damage in North America, said Kimberly Engler, Texas Cooperative Extension program specialist for urban Integrated Pest Management. About $11 billion is spent in the United States each year on termite control and damage repair.

In Texas, termites typically swarm from February to May. Swarming occurs in the daytime, when the temperatures are warm, and generally after a rainstorm.

April 13, 2004

GRUBS USHER IN THE SPRING GARDENING SEASON

DALLAS -- In North Texas, the song of the mockingbirds welcomes the return of the gardening season. But many Texas gardeners turn that first shovelful of garden soil only to find large white grubs. What does this mean for this year's gardens?

Relax, said a Texas Cooperative Extension entomologist. Large white grubs in Texas gardens are as much a part of spring as the mockingbird's song, and are, for the most part, harmless.

"These grubs are not going to hurt your plants," said Mike Merchant, Extension entomologist in Dallas. "They are the survivors from last fall's white grub feeding frenzy. They are still resting and not feeding on plants or causing damage."

April 5, 2004

Texas Department of Health Urges Use of Repellent to Protect Against West Nile Virus

“DEET is an effective repellent that lasts much longer than other repellents,” said Joe Garrett, a veterinarian with zoonosis control at TDH. “It’s safe for children if used according to directions.”

According to TDH, 77 percent of the people who got the more serious forms of West Nile infection in 2003 did not use repellent.

So far this year, West Nile virus has been detected in three horses in Fort Bend, La Salle and Montgomery counties and in five birds in Harris County.

In 2003 TDH recorded 434 human cases of West Nile in 86 Texas counties, including 36 deaths. In comparison in 2002, the state listed less than half that many cases – 202 – in 37 counties with 13 deaths.

The 36 deaths last year were in residents of Angelina, Burnet, Cameron, Castro, Cherokee, Crosby, Dallas (4), Denton, Ellis, El Paso (3), Hale, Harris (3), Hidalgo (2), Floyd, Lubbock (2), Montgomery, Parmer, Potter, Randall (2), San Patricio, Smith, Taylor, Travis, Wharton and Wichita (2) counties.

March 31, 2004

OAK LEAF ROLLERS CAN BE CONTROLLED

COLLEGE STATION – It's like something out of a science fiction movie. Squirmy, twisting THINGS dangling by silken threads from trees. You can't visit your patio anymore. You feel trapped inside the house. They're absolutely horrid.

Actually, oak leaf rollers are harmless to humans. But the caterpillars can do significant damage to trees if left unchecked – particularly in some parts of Central Texas in March and April, said Dr. Bart Drees, entomologist with Texas Cooperative Extension.

When disturbed oak leaf rollers spin silken threads and dangle from leaves and branches. Other caterpillars that dangle from silk threads include the spring and fall cankerworms, which are often called inchworms, he said.

"Heavily infested trees will occasionally be defoliated by mid- to late-April, when the fully-grown caterpillars form the pupa stage on the tips of twigs, in bark crevices or on weeds and other plants growing near infested trees," he said.

Because of the density and the number of trees, using insecticides to control the oak leaf roller is not feasible.

"Often the best course of action is to simply do nothing," he said. "Post oak trees have survived in South and Central Texas without human intervention through time, despite periodic pest outbreaks and resulting defoliation."

Caterpillar pest outbreaks are cyclic, rarely occurring year after year, he said.

For people, Drees suggests wearing broad-rimmed hats and long-sleeved shirts while outdoors if the oak leaf rollers are numerous enough to be bothersome.

"Knowing that these caterpillars are harmless to people and animals and their occurrence is seasonal may provide some comfort," he said.

March 22, 2004

FIRE ANT KILLING PROTOZOA FOUND IN 120 TEXAS COUNTIES

Writer: Robert Burns, (903) 834-6191, rd-burns@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Forrest Mitchell, (254) 968-4144, f-mitchell@tamu.edu

STEPHENVILLE – If imported fire ants dreamed – and who knows if they do or don't – then a tiny protozoa could be their worst nightmare.

Even better news: Texas A&M University System entomologists have completed a survey that detected the protozoa in fire ant colonies in approximately 120 of the 157 Texas counties where they have been found.

Once a colony is infected, the protozoa debilitates the queen, the workers and even the larvae. The disease shortens their the ants' life spans and raises the mortality of sexual females.

The tiny microorganism may not eradicate the fire ants but it has the potential of changing it from a highly aggressive pest into one much less competitive with native species, said Dr. Forrest Mitchell, entomologist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Stephenville. 

Alert: Tracking the Cactus Moth, Cactoblastis cactorum Berg., as it flies and eats its way westward in the U.S. 

M. Alma Solis, et al. Spring 2004 News of the Lepidopterists’ Society

In 1989, Terry Dickel, a member of the Lepidopterists’ Society, was collecting moths on a sheet at night on Big Pine Key, Florida. He collected a very large phycitine he had never seen before in his extensive surveys of the Florida Keys. He contacted Dale Habeck at the University of Florida at Gainesville who recognized that it was the first U.S. record for Cactoblastis cactorum Berg. The cactus moth, as C. cactorum is commonly known, is historically notorious as a voracious feeder on cacti in the genus Opuntia , prickly pear cacti.

By 2002, the cactus moth had eaten its way from the Florida Keys to Folly Island, South Carolina, on the Atlantic eastern coast and to St. George Island, Florida, on the Gulf coast (Hight, et al. 2002). The late-instar bright orange-red, black-spotted caterpillars eat any prickly pear cactus with flat pads (Platyopuntiae).  This moth is predicted to move into the western states and south to Mexico once it reaches Texas. The cactus moth is currently feeding on O. stricta along the Gulf of Mexico, and in 2003 it was found as far west as Pensacola, Florida. If the moth continues its westward spread at the recent rate of 100 miles/year, then the insect is expected to arrive at the Texas border by 2007. If you think you have collected either a larva or an adult of Cactoblastis cactorum in states along the Gulf of Mexico, please contact Alma Solis at asolis@sel.barc.usda.gov before sending material for identification.

Feb. 12, 2004

IT NEVER LEFT: HARRIS COUNTY REPORTS WEST NILE CASE IN BIRD

COLLEGE STATION – Harris County's first positive case of West Nile Virus in 2004 -- in a dead blue jay -- is an early warning, said Dr. Jim Olson, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station entomologist.

"(West Nile virus) isn't back; it just never left," Olson said of the confirmation of the disease this month.

The mild winter in southern Texas has allowed the mosquitoes -- and the disease -- to survive. Populations of the primary vector, a mosquito called Culex quinquefasciatus or southern house mosquito, have never died back. The mosquito "never went to bed," Olson said.

Abstract. As the climate warms, many species are moving to higher latitudes and elevations. However, range shifts can be caused by many factors. These factors are unknown in most cases. The specific role of climate in these dynamics needs study to better predict future consequences of global warming. This case study evaluates whether warming is driving the northward range expansion of a skipper butterfly (Atalopedes campestris). Recently colonized areas have warmed 2–4°C over the past 50 years. To assess the importance of climate change for population persistence in these areas, I compared population dynamics at two locations (at the current range edge and just inside the range) that differ by 2–3°C. Population growth rate at these two locations over two years was positively correlated with January mean and annual mean temperatures. To determine whether larval overwinter survivorship could explain this correlation, I transplanted larvae over winter to both sites. Larval survivorship was very low at both locations, but significantly lower at the range edge, probably because lower lethal temperatures frequently occurred there. To estimate the direct effect of cold stress on larval survivorship, I applied a previously derived hazard-rate model based on laboratory experiments. With input from field-measured daily mean temperature, the model accurately predicted transplant survivorship at both locations over two winters. Combined results from population and larval transplant analyses indicate that winter temperatures directly affect the persistence of A. campestris at its northern range edge, and that winter warming was a prerequisite for this butterfly's range expansion.

Nov. 4, 2003

PARASITIC FLIES OF FIRE ANTS BEING RELEASED IN POLK COUNTY

LIVINGSTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, in cooperation with Texas Cooperative Extension, released phorid flies in Polk County in late October to combat the red imported fire ant.

Extension Agricultural Agent Mark Currie selected the release site on the property of Marty Lowe. Currie, with the help of Master Gardener volunteers Maurice and Nancy Petersen of Livingston, released the flies. Training and supervision for this effort were provided by Dr. Bastiaan M. Drees, professor and Extension entomologist, and Alexandro Calixto, Extension assistant.

The phorid flies were screened for host-specificity to the red imported fire ant and mass-reared, Drees said.

January 22, 2004

Norton, Veneman Launch Cooperative Initiative to Control Invasive Tamarisk in Southwest

(DENVER) -- Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced plans to work with Southwestern states and communities on a strategic initiative to control tamarisk, an invasive plant that has infested millions of acres in the region, damaging wildlife habitat, complicating water management, and causing severe ecological and economic problems.

In These Border Patrols, the Bounty Is Ticks

AREDO, Tex., July 8 — Patrol the banks of the Rio Grande on horseback six hours a day. Speak Spanish and carry a pistol. Beware of smugglers. Spend 80 percent of your time alone, looking for ticks. Starting salary: $22,500 a year plus a horse.

Fred Garza chuckles when asked why he became a tick rider, one of 61 cowboys employed by the Department of Agriculture to combat the spread of the fever tick, a parasite that can wipe out 90 percent of a cattle herd in days.

"Why the hell would anyone want to do anything else?" said Mr. Garza, a 48-year-old Tejano with leathery skin who has been a tick rider, or garrapatero as these border cowboys are known in Spanish, for the last 13 years.

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News Release

July 3, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

First Arboviral Cases Reported for 2003

The season’s first cases of arboviral infection were reported in two people by the Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) today.

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Positive Association Between Densities of the Red Imported Fire Ant,
Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and Generalized Ant and Arthropod Diversity

LLOYD W. MORRISON AND SANFORD D. PORTER

Environmental Entomology 32(3):548-554 (June 2003)

ABSTRACT (in part) Surprisingly, we found moderate positive correlations between S. invicta density and species richness of both ants and non-ant arthropods. Weaker, but usually positive, correlations were found between S. invicta density and the abundance of non-S. invicta ants. A total of 37 ant species, representing 16 genera, were found to coexist with S. invicta over the 45 sites. These results suggest that S. invicta densities as well as the diversities of other ants and arthropods are regulated by common factors (e.g., productivity). Many invaded communities may be more resistant to S. invicta than generally believed, or possess an unexpected resilience for recovery if S. invicta can be permanently suppressed.

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Promising New Compound for Fending Off Insects

By Rosalie Marion Bliss
June 2, 2003

A new chemical compound developed cooperatively by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service and the U.S. Department of Defense looks promising as the key active ingredient in new, safe insect repellents for U.S. military personnel and eventually for the general public. ARS has patented the new compound, called SS220, and it is currently undergoing toxicology tests required for registration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ARS, USDA's chief in-house scientific research agency, has several specialized laboratories with expertise in studying biting insects such as mosquitoes, ticks and flies that can transmit diseases to humans.

DOD launched a Strategic Technology Objective three years ago to identify and develop a new standard military insect repellent to replace DEET, a repellent developed 50 years ago by ARS for the military. DEET is the most widely used repellent in the world and has prevented uncounted cases of malaria and other vector-borne diseases in both civilians and military. During the research project, researchers sought a new repellent effective against a wider range of mosquito species, and compatible with commonly used plastics such as in eyeglass frames and military equipment.

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May 9, 2003
Mild Winter May Mean More Ticks - AgNews
Edith A. Chenault, (979) 845-2886, e-chenault1@tamu.edu

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May 1, 2003
MANY MOSQUITO CONTROLS ONLY HAMMER BUYER’S POCKETBOOK
Writer: Robert Burns (903) 834-6191, rd-burns@tamu.edu
Source: Dr. Jimmy Olson (979) 845-5037, j-olson@tamu.edu

OVERTON – When it comes to mosquito control devices, about the only thing that works is common sense, says an entomologist with Texas A&M University.

Meanwhile, many Texas citizens are using devices or controls costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars that may offer only marginal control or may actually draw more mosquitoes onto their property, said Dr. Jim Olson, professor of entomology with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in College Station.

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April 22, 2003

NEIGHBORHOOD CONTROL OF FIRE ANTS WORKING IN SAN ANTONIO

SAN ANTONIO - Does neighborhood-wide fire ant treatment work?

"Yes, no question about it," said Nathan Riggs, a Texas Cooperative Extension agent who has been helping San Antonio neighborhoods battle fire ants since 1998.

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April 21, 2003
West Nile Activity Could Pick Up Soon In Texas - AgNews
COLLEGE STATION – A Texas mosquito expert is anticipating another – and earlier – round of West Nile virus for this state.

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April 7, 2003 
ORGANIC FIRE ANT BAITS AVAILABLE, EFFECTIVE  - AgNews

COLLEGE STATION -- Organic fire ant baits are new on the market this spring and are as effective as conventional baits, giving consumers another option in control.

"The ants collect it like they do any other bait, and it kind of short-circuits their nervous systems," said Dr. Charles Barr, fire ant specialist with Texas Cooperative Extension.

The only active ingredient for organic fire ant baits is spinosad, also known by its trade name, Conserve, Barr said.

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February 12, 2003 - Press Release

Monarch Butterfly Population Appears to Be Recovering from Last Winter's Devastating Die-Off

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Feb. 3, 2003 - TPW News

Second Crab Trap Cleanup Effort Set

AUSTIN, Texas -- Despite collecting more than 8,000 lost and abandoned crab traps from Texas bays last February, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials say another round of cleanups is warranted.

Volunteers are needed to assist in a coast-wide effort to remove the many thousands of wire mesh cages used to catch crabs that have been lost or abandoned since last year's cleanup.

State game wardens pick up more than 2,500 traps annually, yet there are many more still in the water to foul shrimpers' nets, snag fishermen's lines and create an unsightly view of Texas shores. During last year's cleanup, Galveston Bay alone coughed up 3,214 abandoned traps.

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2002:

WIDESPREAD ASSOCIATION OF THE INVASIVE ANT SOLENOPSIS INVICTA WITH AN INVASIVE MEALYBUG

Ken R. Helms and S. Bradleigh Vinson
Ecology: Vol. 83, No. 9, pp. 2425–2438.

Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2475 USA

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LONG-TERM IMPACTS OF AN ARTHROPOD-COMMUNITY INVASION BY THE IMPORTED FIRE ANT, SOLENOPSIS INVICTA

Lloyd W. Morrison
Ecology: Vol. 83, No. 8, pp. 2337–2345

School of Biological Sciences, Section of Integrative Biology and Brackenridge Field Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712 USA

Although the abundance and species richness of native ants and several other arthropod groups decreased precipitously immediately after the S. invicta invasion, all measures of native ant and arthropod species diversity had returned to preinvasion levels after 12 years.

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Oct. 18, 2002

PHORID FLY RELEASE IN PONDER AIMED AT CONTROLLING FIRE ANTS

Writer: Jennifer Paul,(972) 952-9232, j-paul@tamu.edu 
Contact: Elizabeth Hickman, (214) 904-3050, ba-hickman@tamu.edu

DALLAS -- A parasitic fly that may help control fire ants will be released in an experiment next week west of Denton in the small town of Ponder.

On Wednesday (Oct. 23), the Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Project, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), will release the phorid fly there, in hopes of developing long-term sustainable fire ant control methods. The release will take place on the ranch of Bill and Carol Marsh.

Phorid flies have been released at more than 20 sites statewide and have established at about six of these since the beginning of the Texas Fire Ant Project in 1998, largely by researchers at the University of Texas under the direction of Dr. Larry Gilbert. However, this will be the first release in the north central Texas area.

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U.S. F&WS - August 27, 2002
Designation of Critical Habitat for Nine Bexar County, Texas, Invertebrate Species; Proposed Rule 
http://ifw2es.fws.gov/Documents/R2ES/Bexar_Cnty_TX_Karst-dwelling_Inverts_PROPOSED_CH.pdf

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Aug. 19, 2002, 6:36PM

Houston woman's death may be Texas' first West Nile fatality

By TODD ACKERMAN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

A 52-year-old Houston woman appears to have died from the West Nile virus, the first such death in Texas.

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AgNews - Texas A&M - July 25, 2002
HOT SEASON FOR MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASES

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Reuters - By Christopher Doering, July 10, 2002
Sun serves as map for monarch butterflies, says study 

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July 9, 2002
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 99, Issue 15, 10162-10166, July 23, 2002
Henrik Mouritsen^* and Barrie J. Frost 

Virtual migration in tethered flying monarch butterflies reveals their orientation mechanisms

Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7L 3N6

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June 24, 2002 - AgNews

GUAVA TREES THRIVING AT WESLACO AG RESEARCH CENTER

Known as the poor man's fruit, or the apple of the tropics, guava is one of the most popular fruits of the tropical and subtropical climates of the world. Consumption of this fruit is very high, providing consumers with the highest concentration of vitamin C of any fruit, and with beneficial levels of pectin, a natural compound proven to prevent certain cancers in humans.

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AgNews - Texas A&M - June 19, 2002
WEST NILE VIRUS FOUND IN HARRIS COUNTY

Writer: Edith A. Chenault, (979) 845-2886,e-chenault1@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Jim Olson, (979) 845-5037

COLLEGE STATION – Texans should be aware of, but not panic about, the first report of West Nile virus in the state, said Dr. Jim Olson, entomologist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

West Nile virus was found in three blue jays and a sample of mosquitos in northwest Harris County by the Harris County Mosquito Control Division.

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Entomological Society of America Newsletter
June 2002. Volume 25, Number 6

Scientists Find Fewer Tropical Insect Species Than Expected

An eight-year National Science Foundation-funded study of New Guinean rainforest insects and the plants they feed on has yielded a new and dramatically lower estimate of the number of arthropod species on the planet. The estimate, which lowers the number from approximately 31 million to between four and six million, is based on the finding that insects specialize their feeding not on individual plant species, but on plant genera and families.

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AgNews - Texas A&M - May 31, 2002

HYBRID HONEY BEES FOUND RESPONSIBLE FOR WOMAN’S DEATH

Writer: Kathleen Phillips, (979)845-2872,ka-phillips@tamu.edu
Contact: Paul Jackson, (979)845-9714

COLLEGE STATION – Officials at the Texas Apiary Inspection Service have determined that honey bees that attacked and killed a young woman in El Campo Monday were hybrids – a mix between Africanized honey bees and regular, European honey bees.

“There were a huge number of bees in two nests,” said Paul Jackson, chief of TAIS, the Texas A&M University agency charged with regulating the state’s bee laws. “The nests had been there for more than a year.”

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Tricky Ticks

By Diana Barto, Senior Associate Editor
Apr 1, 2002 12:00 PM

It's a blood-sucking parasite with the potential to spread a fatal disease to U.S. cattle and cost the beef industry billions of dollars. Thanks to a successful eradication program in the U.S., that hasn't been the case.

But cattle fever ticks still infest northern Mexico and parts of Texas, and keeping the parasite under control in the southern U.S. is becoming increasingly difficult.

Over the last 20 years, several factors have been contributing to this complex situation, says John George, laboratory director for the USDA's Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Lab in Kerrville, TX.

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Dec. 24, 2001 - AgNews

TREE-PRUNING INSECTS VEXING RIO GRANDE VALLEY

Writer: Rod Santa Ana III, (956) 968-5581,r-santaana@tamu.edu
Contact: John Norman, (956) 968-5581,j-norman@tamu.edu

WESLACO -- If your trees are being pruned without your knowledge or consent, fear not. The culprit is not some deranged gardener.

The pruning is most likely the work of an insect commonly known by various names including twig girdlers, twig pruners or long-horned beetles, for their extra long antennae.

John Norman, a cotton integrated pest management (IPM) entomologist at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, said several species are common and native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and their populations seem to peak in cycles.

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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - December 21, 2000
BEXAR COUNTY INVERTEBRATES ADDED TO ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST

Contacts

Elizabeth Slown 505-248-6909, Alisa Shull 512-490-0057, Victoria Fox 505-248-6455

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated nine species of invertebrates known only from caves in the northern part of Bexar County, Texas, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

In 1992, several local groups (Alamo Group of the Sierra Club, Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Coalition, Helotes Creek Association, Texas Cave Management Association, and Texas Speleological Association) petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add the nine species of karst invertebrates to the List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife. The nine species are the Helotes mould beetle (Batrisodes venyivi), the Robber Baron Cave harvestman (Texella cokendolpheri), the Robber Baron Cave spider (Cicurina baronia), Madla’s cave spider (Cicurina madla), the vesper cave spider (Cincurina vespera), the Government Canyon cave spider (Neoleptoneta microps), as well as another cave spider (Cicurina venii) and two cave beetles (Rhadine exilis and Rhadine infernalis) that do not have common names.

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TDH News Release
August 3, 1999

Health Officials Issue Area Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Alert

Public health officials are alerting residents of Cooke, Grayson and surrounding counties to take precautions against tick bites following recent confirmation of three Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases. A Grayson County man died and two residents of Cooke County had neurological complications after contracting Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

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May 10, 1999 

Disease Prevention News Vol. 59, No. 10

Lyme Disease in Texas (PDF)

Lyme disease, caused by various strains of the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne disease worldwide. In Texas 1,682 possible cases of Lyme disease were reported from 1990 through 1998; 580 (35%) met the CDC’s current case definition (physician diagnosed erythema migrans (EM) at least 5 cm in diameter or rheumatologic, cardiac or neurologic manifestations with a positive laboratory test). The majority of Texas cases have occurred in patients from the north central portion of the state.

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13 September 2005 © Mike Quinn / mike.quinn@tpwd.state.tx.us / Texas Entomology