by Bill Costello | Nov 4, 2014 | Pests & Diseases
This cleverly disguised caterpillar was found munching in our gardens this fall. Papilo cresphontes, common name bird poop caterpillar, uses camouflage to resemble bird droppings. Younger instars often rest in plain view on the upper surfaces of leaves where you would...
by Bill Costello | Oct 27, 2011 | Pests & Diseases
This past spring and summer, two mature white pines (Pinus strobus) at the rear of Bond Lodges along Chester Road, suddenly turned brown and died. The first one went off color during Commencement week at the end of May. A visual inspection of the trunk and top with...
by Bill Costello | Nov 10, 2010 | Pests & Diseases
In mid fall, from early to mid October, large white fruiting bodies of the fungus, Calvatia gigantiea can be found popping up from the ground. Giant puffballs are in the class of fungi known as Gasteromycetes or “stomach fungi” as all the spores are contained...
by Bill Costello | Aug 2, 2010 | Pests & Diseases
If you have been on campus the last two weeks, you may have noticed a Bartlett Tree Co. spray truck parked around. They have been injecting our American elms, Ulmus americana, with Arbortet fungicide to protect them from Dutch Elm Disease, Ophiostoma ulmi. This...
by Bill Costello | Aug 24, 2009 | Pests & Diseases
Dogwood sawfly, Macremphytus tarsatus, has been found on shrubby dogwood species on campus. While this pest looks like a caterpillar, it is actually the larval stage of a wasp-like Hymenoptera species. Adult sawflies emerge in late spring and lay their eggs on the...
