Three leading Ohio State experts, including CFAES Dean Bruce McPheron, will talk about the battle for Lake Erie, and for all of Ohio’s water sources, at June 3’s Columbus Metropolitan Club Luncheon. It’s open to both club members and the public.
invasive species
Conbatulations
The Ohio Forestry Association recently recognized CFAES wildlife specialist Marne Titchenell for her outstanding efforts in conservation education. Her work includes telling people about the deadly, spreading bat disease called white-nose syndrome, which she talks about in the video above.
Possibly berry problematic
A look at the tiny spotted wing drosophila, less than half as long as a grain of rice, shown here on a raspberry, which was mentioned in our previous post. It’s a new invasive threat to Ohio’s berry and other fruit crops. (Photo: Hannah Burrack, North Carolina State University, Bugwood.org.)
No trick, no treat, alien spotted in trees
Forget Godzilla. Never mind zombies. Monsters have come to Ohio. Here are 10 invasive species currently on the loose …
Well, that can’t be good; or, this feral won’t make you happy
Corn stalks lie flattened after feeding by feral swine, an expanding invasive species in Ohio. “Feral swine damage to standing corn,” an OSU Extension fact sheet says, “can resemble the aftermath of an errant steamroller.” (Photo: Craig Hicks, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, via Bugwood.org.)
‘They’re highly adaptable and very destructive’
Pigs gone wild — invasive, non-native feral swine like this one — have come to Ohio. Read the story. (Photo: iStock)
Score two for safety
Your ash trees might not be sustainable, no thanks to New pest puts berries at risk
A new invasive insect pest, a nondescript kind of vinegar fly, is threatening Ohio’s fruit crops, especially its berries.
Kudzu be a problem? Yes, it kud
CFAES specialists have created and are distributing a new identification poster for kudzu. The “plant that ate the South” is in Ohio. It smothers street signs, utility poles and anything else in its way. It also chokes out other plants, including trees. Even more, experts fear a new invasive insect may follow kudzu north. Like the multicolored Asian lady beetle, the kudzu bug swarms on and often in people’s homes. But it also could hurt Ohio’s soybean crop. It feeds on both kudzu and soybean plants. Read the story. (Photo: Rebekah D. Wallace, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org.)
Soybean rust never sleeps … so team of scientists stands guard against it
There’s rust on some soybeans, though preferably not, but none on the scientists fighting it. Experts from more than 30 U.S. and Canadian institutions, including CFAES, continue to battle soybean rust, a big yield robber elsewhere in the world that invaded the U.S. 10 years ago. Two new videos are their latest steps forward. (Photo: Soybean leaves infected with soybean rust by Christine Stone, USDA-ARS.)