Puzzled About Zebra Longwings?

Florida State Symbols

Zebra Longwing - UF/IFAS

Butterfly Gardening In Florida -UF/IFAS

Tales From The Butterfly Garden - Lepidoptera Curious

Florida Butterfly Host Plants

NSiS Zebra Longwing Nectar Plants  

California Scientists Release Citrus Psyllid Predator

Tamarixia radiata

California scientists just released the Tamarixia radiata - a predator wasp that attacks our dreaded Asian citrus psyllid.

UC Riverside Executive Vice Chancellor Dallas Rabenstein and Mark Hoddle, the director of the Center for Invasive Species Research, released Tamarixia radiata – tiny, stingless parasitic wasps that lay eggs in ACP nymphs – in a citrus grove near the UCR Botanic Gardens. A total of 281 wasps (95 males and 186 females) were released.



Over the next several years, UCR and California Department of Agriculture Food and Agriculture (CDFA) scientists will raise thousands of Tamarixia for release throughout California. The Tamarixia larvae will eat the ACP nymphs, killing them, and emerge as adults about 12 days later. Adult female Tamarixia also eat other ACP nymphs, killing many in the process.

Read more.

Management of Asian Citrus Psyllid - IFAS

Tamarixia radiata - life cycle - Cornell

Why Are My Citrus Leaves Curling?

Growing Them Big Down Under

The giant Powelliphanta looks beautiful sliding along the mesic forest floor but this rare albino snail is not as gentle as its vegetarian American cousins. The New Zealand native mollusk is carnivorous, feasting on worms, grubs, and other creatures that are in the snail's path.  At maturity, a 20 year old snail can reach the size of a man's fist.  This photographs shows a Powelliphanta (Powell elephant?) approximately ten years old.

The ugly creature above is called a Giant Weta. I'm grateful they are found only on the Great Barrier Island as they are one of the largest insects on record and a good example of island gigantism . Finding this in my garden would spoil my day.

Do you have signs of pesky snails in your garden?  Make sure you're not irrigating too much or too often, keeping your landscape wet. Snails are Mother Nature's decomposers, digesting fungi and decaying plant material. They  like moist soils with lots of leaf litter.  Drying your garden beds out, removing decomposing foliage, letting the sun in, and using a product with iron phosphate works to help reduce snail population. Be careful using baits with metaldehyde around children and pets. Using beer may be organic, but is expensive, and a good waste of beer. (Beer is also not good for pets and children.)

There is one Florida native snail that is good for your garden:  the Rosy Wolf Snail, Euglandia rosea.  These predators feed on other snails and keep other snail populations down. 

The Living World of Mollusks describes rosy wolf snail's behavior:

In the case of the wolf snail, the lips are used to follow the prey's scent along its slime trace. Which a wolf snail does, like a wolf follows the scent of its prey, hence the snail's name. Only in the case of the wolf snail, it is more precisely the taste, not the scent, which it follows.

From another snail's slime trace the wolf snail also gains information on whether the snail is a potential meal rather than a fellow wolf snail. Which basically makes not much of a difference, as wolf snails also are cannibals.

On pursuit of its prey the wolf snail does not move at a proverbial snail's pace, but at double or triple that speed. It follows its prey up trees and even for certain distances under water

For more information and identification of snails:

Florida Tree Snails

Get Savvy About Snails

Florida Garden Snails

Snails and Slugs

Got Aphids?

With over 1300 species of aphids in North America, it shouldn't be a surprise to you that you find them in your garden.

When I get aphids in my landscape, it's usually on my asclepias tuberosa or butterfly weed, which can handle a few aphids.  I'm fortunate enough to catch them in time to spray the water hose on them or natural predators - like lady beetles -  to have their way and they do disappear.  If you are faced with sooty mold or a declining plant because aphids are so damaging, then you have to use stronger methods to eradicate them, such as pyrethroids or horticultural oils. Always follow instructions on the label.  Try not to stress, aphids are everywhere and you can get rid of them.

IFAS publications:

Aphids On Landscape Plants

Aphids on Florida Citrus

Citrus Tree Leaves Are Curling

Teresa:

My lemon and grapefruit leaves are curling and it looks like a snake design on the leaves.  Could you tell me what this could be.  Thank you.

Barbara

The squiggly lines and curled leaves are an indication that your citrus trees have had a visit from citrus leafminers. Now... once you see the damage, the moth has laid its eggs, the larvae have hatched and are gone and there's no reason to use a chemical. There are parasitoid biological controls in Florida.

Leafminers like new tender foliage. It doesn't hurt the citrus tree or the fruit but can be a problem for young trees trying to leaf out. As your citrus trees get new leaves, you can spray with Bayer Advanced Fruit, Citrus, and Vegetable Insect Control.  It provides from one to three months of protection from the insects. Follow the instruction label to make sure that you have the best effectiveness.

Make sure you're fertilizing your citrus on a consistant basis every three to four months with a balanced fertilizer with micro nutrients.

Leafminers can also attack ornamental plants and vegetables. Make sure that the insecticide you use is certified for home use and edible landscaping.

In Your Backyard - Fungus Gnats

Growing a herb garden indoors, or any plants for that matter, doesn't keep them from having pest problems. Somehow insects find their way inside. Visible signs of small flies flitting between the leaves when you put your hands near the herbs means that fungus gnats have found your planters. Overwatering and soil contamination are the main reasons that the little pests feel comfortable.  They lay their eggs in the wet soil and when they hatch, the decomposition provides lots of food for them to thrive.  Once you see the flies, you need to get control quickly. If you are vigilant, you will see the flies before damage to your plants and roots occur.

What should you do? First, if its herbs and you want to use them in your cooking, you don't want to use any insecticides that will contaminate the plants.  Make sure your plants are in the right location where they get enough sunlight and good air movement. Stop overwatering and only water soil when its perfectly dry to the touch. Don't let the water sit in the pot liners.  Try using the yellow sticky boards that will collect them as they unknowingly get stuck when they fly close by. Change out the sticky boards when full and replace until they are gone.  You may even want to change the soil out to get rid of any larvae.


Darkwinged Fungus Gnats , Lycoriella spp. and Bradysia spp., Sciaridae,
Credit: Lance Osborner, University of Florida/MFREC



Dirty Word of The Day - Diapause

Diapause: a period of time in the life cycle of insects where they don't grow or develop and their body functions slow down a lot.

Read more about survival strategies of insects.

Bees Do It But Who Else Does It?

The recent news of solving the mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder has brought out the necessity of protecting honeybees and pollination. But did you know that bees aren't the only pollinators? Here in Florida, we are fortunate to have many of Mother Nature's benefactors who keep us in blooms and food. It's important to re-establish native flowers, shrubs, and trees to encourage pollinator populations to increase.

Different species of insects, and different sizes of those insects have specific plants that are targeted along the pollinator's daily route. Flying insects like large bees, small bees, wasps, and beetles like Marsh mallow, Kostelezkya virginica , butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa , Black cherry, Prunus serotina, and winged sumac, Rhus copallina. Deer and horse flies are more familiar to Floridians as pests but are still important pollinators.
For more information, check out Hernando County's Florida Native Plant Society's article on Florida pollinators and their habitats by Sharon LaPlante.

Find out more about Florida native plants.

Florida native plant nurseries links:

• Association of Florida Native Nurseries
• Florida Native Plant Society
• Florida Native Plants - Sarasota
• Biosphere - Winter Garden
• B. B. Brown's Gardens - Clermont (352) 429-5566
• All Native Plants - San Antonio, FL
• Hawthorn Hill Native Wildflower and Rare Plant Nursery - Sarasota
• Sandhill Growers - wholesale