The spotted lanternfly (aka SLF) is a serious invasive insect pest native to East Asia and was first found in SE Pennsylvania in 2014. Since that initial discovery, it has spread to many counties in Pennsylvania, as well as into…

Last year, Kentucky got to experience the group of periodical cicadas known as Brood X bursting onto the scene, singing their song, mating in trees, and dying in spectacular numbers. It’s like nature’s most morbid Mardi Gras. There were likely…

Every spring, people notice the presence of little red bugs walking on pavements, sidewalks, stones, or some kind of masonry floor in patios or outdoor walls. These are not insects, but mites and are commonly called concrete mites, cement mites,…

The good news is that trap captures of true armyworm and black cutworm moths are down considerably compared with last year at this time. Although it is important to note that we had to switch trap types in Princeton (metal…

Recently, we have received several inquiries about hammerhead worms and their prevalence in Kentucky. These predaceous flatworms look like something out of a bad 1950’s sci-fi movie, sometimes described as snake-like with a hammer for a head. They have also…

Mistaken Identity Cases with Invasive Species Invasive insects have captured a lot of attention lately, which is good as it encourages people to be to be on the lookout for these new pests. However, we also can get many reports…

Cutworms are cool-weather, early-season pests of many cultivated plants. Often before crops are even planted, the small instar cutworms may be feeding on winter-annual weeds in fields. When winter-annual weeds are burned down, and spring crops are planted, half-grown cutworm…

There are relatively few insects that are active as adults in the late fall and winter months, but one of those groups is winter crane flies (Figure 1).  There are a number of species of winter crane flies in North…

Status of the brown marmorated stink bug The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halymorpha halys, was detected in soybean fields in several counties of western Kentucky between August and September 2020. This insect is widely distributed and has been established…

A nice good-looking stink bug was observed in western Kentucky on several occasions during mid-July and mid-August this year. Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Pentatomidae) (Figure 1), known as the Florida predatory stink bug, has been previously detected in Kentucky and several northern…

One of the more unusual species to find in gardens is a terrestrial flatworm called the hammerhead worm. This week, I have had two reports of them; one from the mountains of eastern Kentucky (Letcher County), and the other from…

Leafhoppers in Kentucky 2020 Kentucky is not known for its leafhoppers but ask anyone who has been outside this season and they will tell you Kentucky is full of them. Leafhoppers are found all across America but generally do not…

One of the more spectacular entomological events is the emergence of millions of periodical cicadas. What makes this event so unusual is that it occurs so infrequently, each brood emerging every 13 or 17 years. Depending on where one lives,…

A nationwide survey is currently underway to gather information from farmers and growers on the economic impact of the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) (Figure 1) on agriculture. The objective of the survey is to better provide commercial producers with…