Caseload at the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab has increased dramatically over the last few weeks and the lab is now handling a typical summer caseload. A summary of fruit crop samples submitted to the IDL in late May and early June can be found below:

Codling moth & plum curculio: Codling moths and plum curculio have been appearing in orchards over the last few weeks.  I’ve recently had a few samples at the diagnostic lab of apples and pears from southern Wisconsin showing “stings” from these insects. 

Pear psylla: A pear sample from south-central Wisconsin had pear psylla nymphs near the calyx end of developing fruit.

Pear rust mites and pearleaf blister mite:  I’ve recently had a few pear samples from southern Wisconsin with these mite pests. The pear rust mite can cause russeting of fruits and in recent samples, the mites were found near the calyx end of fruits.  Pearleaf blister mites causes raised, scab-like blisters on pear leaves.  These often start our as greenish, but change color to reddish and eventually brown later in the growing season.

Plant bugs: Various plant bugs can feed on a range of fruit crops.  I’ve recently seen cases of both tarnished plant bug and nymphs of the four-lined plant bug from the southern half of the state.

Stink Bugs: I’ve continued to receive occasional, scattered reports of brown marmorated stink bugs associated with structures.  Growers with a history of brown marmorated stink bug, should be aware that adults are active and young nymphs will likely appear sometime in the coming weeks.

Spongy moth: Last year, Extension, DNR, and DATCP received reports of dead and dying spongy moth caterpillars.  Two pathogens, a fungus and a virus, kicked in to cause spongy moth populations to collapse., which is helping us out this year.  Not surprisingly, spongy moth cases at the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab are down with no reports of significant damage at this time.    

Reminder about diagnostic support from the IDL: Growers and consultants in need of insect diagnostic services are always welcome to submit a sample to the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab.  Lab services are provided free of charge.  You can find additional information about the IDL here: insectlab.russell.wisc.edu

This article was posted in Insects and tagged insect, Insect Diagnostic Lab, PJ Liesch.