Alaska IPM

🐝 New publication alert! The publication "HGA-00501, Building Pollinator Habitat into the Alaska Garden" covers twelve tips for attracting and supporting pollinators in your own yards and gardens. The publication is available from the UAF Cooperative Extension Service publication page in both web and pdf formats. https://www.uaf.edu/ces/publications/database/gardening/building-pollinator-habitats.php

🐞 New publication alert! 🐞 The publication "HGA-00500, Building Lady Beetle Habitat into the Alaska Garden" covers information about the life cycle and biology of lady beetles (aka "ladybugs"), tips for creating habitat for lady beetles in your yards and gardens, as well as a photo guide which covers ten native species of lady beetles found in Alaska and one invasive species. The publication is available from the UAF Cooperative Extension Service publication page in both web and pdf formats. https://www.uaf.edu/ces/publications/database/gardening/lady-beetle-habitat.php

Bug of the Week! This week’s bug of the week is the twisted wing parasite, Elenchus tenuicornis. This small and rarely noticed order of insects is truly one of the odd balls. This species is a parasite of a number of insects, but is most often associated with leafhoppers. Life begins with an egg which is laid by the mother inside the host hopper which she herself developed in. The first instar larvae leave that host through thin intersegment host membranes and are free living. They attach to vegetation and wait for a new host to come along. When one does, they burrow into the new host through those flexible membranes and take up residency, living off of the host tissues and eventually taking up much of the host's abdomen. When it comes time to mature, the pupa of males will protrude from the membrane in between the host’s abdominal segments. The male looks like a very small wasp but different. They have only one pair of fan shaped wings, and their one pair is the rear most pair of wings, a bit different than flies who also have one pair of wings but it’s the forward pair. If you want to find one you had better look very closely as they really are small, adult males are only about 1.5mm, and only live for a few days.

The females never leave the host leaf hopper, and they don’t quite develop into a regular looking insect either. Their head and thorax semi-fuse and they don’t develop functional legs or eyes. This ceplothorax as it’s called, protrudes from in between the abdominal segments of the host and functions for allowing the male to find the female and mate. She will then develop eggs in the host and the cycle repeats itself. Host bugs with females will die, but those with males may live on. Females are often found when looking at a leafhopper and noticing an odd bulge on their abdomen, males occasionally in a sweep net. This species is commonly found in Europe, but only rarely in the US. Being as small as they are, and as far out there as some of the collection sites have been, some think this is a native holarctic species rather than a European introduction. Either way, it’s a cool little bug with a very different way of living out its life.

Joey Slowik, IPM Technician
[email protected]

Photograph from inaturalist.org

Looking for a good book to jump start your gardening season? The book Insects and Gardens by entomologist Eric Grissell (2001) is full of insights into the lives of the insects in your garden. He covers the biological questions, such as which insects and other arthropods are you likely to encounter in the garden and what are they doing there, in addition to the philosophical questions of how to come to terms with the existence of insects in our gardens. While the book is full of factual information, Grissell has a knack for writing in a conversational tone, peppered with bits of humor, that is pleasurable to read.

If you've taken the Master Gardener course in recent years, you may recognize this book. I like to start my presentation on insect biology with a quote from his book that I think helps to reframe our perspective of insects in the garden:
“When an insect awakens, the first thought that comes to its puny mind is not how much trouble it can create for you, the gardener. The concept of trouble is confined entirely to the mind of the gardener and his philosophical outlook on such things.”

This is not to say that the author does not acknowledge that insects can cause damage in the garden. Rather, Grissell encourages gardeners to get to know the diverse roles of insects in their garden, so that the gardener can learn to appreciate and encourage the benefits that insects can provide for our gardens.

The book is available to borrow through Anchorage Public Library's interlibrary loan system, or through the Soldotna & Kodiak Public Libraries.

-Alex Wenninger, [email protected]

Bug of the Week! This week’s bug of the week is the rove beetle, Aleochara bilineate. I know it doesn’t seem like it this year, but spring is coming, and for many that is also when our beloved root maggot flies return. For those in the dark, root maggots are a major pest to many a backyard gardener who tries to grow any brassica plant, like turnips, kale, cabbage or broccoli. The maggots eat away the plant so it wilts and dies. The beetle A. bilineate is an interesting pest of the pest. It has adapted its lifecycle to that of the root maggot. Adult beetles lay eggs in the soil near where root maggots are likely to be found, so near brassica plants. The beetles hatch in about 10 days and then actively seek out a maggot pupa in the soil. They nibble into it and eat up the pupating maggot inside. After about 30-40 days they emerge as an adult. Then they mate, lay some eggs and do it again. The adults can live for about a month and are predators of both loose larvae and root maggot eggs, and probably the adult flies should they catch them.

The beetles overwinter like the maggots, in a pupa, only the pupa of the maggot. They have been found to emerge later than the flies. This ensures that when they are done mating and are laying eggs there are flies around for them and their future brood to eat. These beetles are not native to North America, and likely followed the root maggots which have moved around with us. Southcentral Alaska is about as far out there as the species has made it in North America. This species has been speculated to be a potential biocontrol for root maggots, as they can knock down a maggot population by 70-90%. But, they always let that first population get away, so the flies always come back and sometimes too many for the beetles to control. No silver bullet here, just another interesting bug.

Joey Slowik, IPM Technician
[email protected]

Don't forget to register your honey bee hives with the Alaska Division of Agriculture! Registration is quick and easy and is required annually by law. You can either fill out the form electronically and submit via email or can print and mail to the address on the form: https://dnr.alaska.gov/.../HB%20Registration%20Fillable...

Registration helps the Alaska Division of Agriculture understand the size of the industry in Alaska, and also allows them to notify nearby apiaries in the event of a nearby bee disease detection. The information provided remains confidential within the Division of Agriculture.

Bug of the Week! This week’s bug of the week is the Black Spruce Borer, Asemum striatum. Black Spruce Borers are a medium sized beetle, with adults growing to slightly less than an inch in length. They are all black, elongate, with noticeable forward directed antennae about as long as half their body length. They belong to the beetle family Cerambycidae, which are the long-horned beetles, but this species antennae are shorter than many others in the family. Though, they do share a similar body shape, in that they are an elongate oval. This species also has longitudinal ridges along their elytra. These help in separating them from other borer species. The larvae take several years to mature and feed in the stumps or lower parts of dead and freshly dead trees. They may bore into the wood of the tree, but spend much of their time feeding near the surface, under the bark.

Although the species common name implies it’s found in Black Spruce, it’s much more common in pine species and other spruce. They will feed on a variety of tree species such as the common landscape trees Mugo Pine and Norway Spruce, and they are even known to feed on Larch and Firs. Adults can be found all summer from May-August. They have a broad holarctic distribution, and in other places are attracted to light traps implying they are at least somewhat nocturnal. This species is rare in Alaska. The Museum only lists a few specimens collected from the 1950’s. It could be that we lack the tree species they really like, even though we have lots of black spruce. Or maybe it’s our long days. Who knows, but they are very likely out there and just unreported/noticed like many of our insects.

Joey Slowik, IPM Technician
[email protected]

Photo description: The photograph shows a Black Spruce Borer, Asemum striatum. The beetle is black, oval shaped, has long forward facing antennae, and 6 legs. It is resting on a section of tree bark.

Bug of the Week! This week’s bug of the week is the human louse, Pediculus humanus. Lice are an interesting insect that has evolved with us in mind. Lice are a creamy white, wingless, somewhat drop shaped bug, with very robust legs. Their front legs are further modified to help them hold onto a host. They have small, simple eyes and short thick antenna. Their abdomen makes up about half of their body length, which is about 1/8 inch, and can swell when well fed. They have simple metamorphosis, so egg, nymph, and adult. They feed with a complex mouth with several sharp teeth which tear into the host and then a feeding tube which sucks up the blood. These bugs rely on us. After a nymph hatches, that first instar must feed in 24 hours or it dies. In fact, all of the life stages need a blood meal every 48 hours or they starve. It takes about a week for the egg to hatch after the mother glues it to one of our hairs. From egg to adult takes about another 10-20 days.

There is a negative stigma to louse, but they have been with us for a long time across all classes of society, we are all potential meals to them. Often though, they show up on our kids coming home from school. This is because kids spread them around and don’t always tell us when they have them. Control involves treating the head or body with some type of solution to kill the bugs. There are actually only a few usually found on any one person at any one time, usually under 5. The next step involves removing the eggs from the hairs with a very fine-toothed comb. The last step is killing any not on the body. This means washing things and drying them on high heat to kill them, or just bagging up everything for three days. After that any bugs not on us will have starved. I remember a lice scare as a kid and my mother just shaved my and my brother’s heads and we never had an issue. Sure, we looked funny, but who doesn’t in elementary school.

Joey Slowik, IPM Technician
[email protected]

Note: the first image is a composite of different pictures taken at different focus levels, giving it that crisp, highly detailed look.

Bug of the Week! This week’s bug of the week is the woodpecker fly, Medetera signaticornis. Woodpecker flies are an interesting group of long legged flies which get their common name from their behavior in which the adults rest on vertical surfaces with their forelegs extended and their hind legs bent. This positions them on the wall, tree trunk, or post in a manner similar to how a woodpecker rests on a tree, but no, they don’t peck the tree. Adults are smaller flies, only 3-4 mm, grey black, with large eyes and a distinct head. Without a hand lens they appear just as tiny black flies, but you can see their body position without one which gives them away as woodpecker flies. Both adults and larvae are predators. Adults feed on small invertebrates like mites, collembola and Psocoptera. Identification of species requires dissection of the genitalia, but many species look alike and I selected a picture which shows the resting pose. It may not be this species, but it would look similar.

The larvae have been found in the galleries of the spruce beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis and may turn out to be an interesting natural biological control agent. It has a holarctic distribution and may be found on a number of tree species, but more often on conifers with a beetle issue. There is work in Norway to find an attractant to lure in this species which may turn out to be an effective natural predator we can use in helping regulate damage from bark beetles in the future. We just worked through a cycle of spruce beetle, but who knows, the next time around we may be spraying to bring in the flies rather than trying to spray to kill the beetles.

Joey Slowik, IPM Technician
[email protected]

Bug of the Week! This week’s bug of the week is the Rove beetle, Nudobius cephalus. Rove beetles are a group of predatory beetles which are easily separated from other beetles by their elytra, which are short, in this case not covering much of the beetle at all. Over all, N. cephalus is a smaller rove beetle, a little bigger than a ¼ inch. They are elongated black beetles with a tapering head and rear. Those smaller elytra are located about midlength, a reddish color, and cover only about ¼ of their abdomen. Their legs are also reddish as well. They have large mandibles, which you would expect a predatory beetle to have, and forward projecting antennae about as long as their heads. Larvae are cream colored with three pair of little legs, and also predatory.

This genus is well known to be found in association with bark beetles. It had been reported to be only found under the bark of dead or dying trees, but really this species is a generalist. It has been found co-inhabiting tunnels in black spruce with the four-eyed spruce bark beetle. It has also been found in the fruiting bodies of fungi. I came across this species when I was looking though bugs that fall into birch sap collection buckets. In my case they were probably out hunting the other bugs attracted to the sap. Nudobius cephalus also has a large distribution from Alaska to the Northeast with fingers extending south along the Rockies into Arizona and a few scattered records from the Southeast US. It’s not clear what their generation time and life cycle are, but adults are found earlier in the summer, so probably overwintering as a pupa or adult under the bark of a tree or in the gallery of a prey item.

Joey Slowik, IPM Technician
[email protected]