Tag Archives: Featured

Big Bugs, Medical Entomology

Scorpion Hitchhikers in Wisconsin

While scorpions are common in southern parts of the US, they aren’t native to Wisconsin or the Upper Midwest. Occasionally, they show up in the state as hitchhikers from other locations. In the last decade, I’ve seen only a handful of cases where scorpions were spotted in the Badger state. Interestingly, I’ve now had three reports of live scorpions submitted to the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab this year—from Milwaukee, Madison, and recently from Prairie du Chien (as shown in the video clip below). In the rare cases that scorpions do make an appearance, they tend to be the striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) or a close relative.

 

The striped bark scorpion is one of the most commonly encountered scorpions in the United States. This arachnid can reach lengths of roughly 2½ inches. It typically has a beige or yellowish body with two dark stripes running down its back—hence the name. They also have a dark triangular pattern near the eyes at the front of the body, which can help distinguish them from other species.

The striped bark scorpion is primarily found in the south-central United States, with most sightings coming from Texas. Its range extends west to New Mexico and eastern Colorado, and as far northeast as the St. Louis area. The species is also present in Mexico. Occasional sightings have been reported outside this typical range. In their natural habitat, these scorpions prefer secluded spots such as under loose tree bark, logs, rocks, and woodpiles. They may also seek shelter near buildings and can inadvertently wander indoors.

A striped bark scorpion found in a home in Prairie du Chien. Photo credit: PJ Liesch, UW Insect Diagnostic Lab.

Like many other scorpions, striped bark scorpions are nocturnal and are mostly active after dark. These arachnids are generalist predators, hunting insects and other small arthropods. They use their pedipalps (“pincers”) and telson (“stinger”) to subdue prey. While technically venomous, the striped bark scorpion’s venom is relatively mild and not considered medically dangerous to humans. However, stings from this species can still be quite painful.

Do the three reports of live scorpions mean that these creatures are becoming more common in our area?  No, not necessarily.  While it’s hard to tell how the range of scorpions may push northwards with climate change, we’re still well north of the native range of species like the striped bark scorpion.  The vast majority of Wisconsinites will never see one of these creatures in the state outside of captivity.  If anything, the three cases this year may simply illustrate how scorpions can be moved around by humans under the right conditions.

Big Bugs, IDL Highlights, In the News

Introducing the Wisconsin Periodical Cicada Website

Now that the solar eclipse has passed, the next big natural phenomenon in Wisconsin will be the emergence of Brood XIII periodical cicadas in late May and June.  These insects last emerged in the state in 2007 around the time that Steve Jobs was releasing the very first iPhone.  While there were some reports of out-of-sync “stragglers” a few years ago, 2024 will be the year of their big emergence.  Since these insects emerge every 17 years, you might only have a handful of opportunities to see them in the Badger State in your entire life.  Despite having grown up in southeastern Wisconsin and turning 40 next year, I still have not witnessed an emergence myself and I’m really looking forward to this year’s activity.

With all the “buzz” about these amazing insects, I recently developed a new Wisconsin Periodical Cicada Website: cicadas.wisc.edu.  This site covers the biology, ecology, and distribution of these insects, with lots of photos, audio recordings, cool historical videos, and other resources.

Wisconsin Periodical Cicada Website
The recently launched Wisconsin Periodical Cicada Website.

I also wanted to get a clearer picture of where these insects occur in Wisconsin.  This winter, I dug through 150+ years of books, newspaper columns, university and government reports, and specimens in our very own Wisconsin Insect Research Collection to develop an updated map for the state.  While this map is an improvement over older ones, there’s still plenty to learn about the local distribution of these cicadas in Wisconsin.  To that end, I also launched a community science project on the website for participants to submit their own sightings from the state.  It’s a brief fillable form and photos can be uploaded right from your phone, tablet, or computer—no app required.  I’d love to receive any reports of periodical cicadas from Wisconsin this year to help improve our map of them in the state.

If you’re a cicada enthusiast and have a lot of reports to share, feel free to contact me via email (pliesch@wisc.edu) to discuss other arrangements.  If you’re unsure if you’ve spotted a periodical cicada, check out the website’s Cicada Basics page or reach out for assistance at the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab.

Adult periodical cicada
Adult periodical cicada. Photo credit: USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Program; public domain image.

Lastly, if you’re hoping to see and experience the periodical cicadas for yourself, your best bet would be to visit the Lake Geneva area in June.  This part of the state has a very long and well-established history of periodical cicada activity.  There’s also an updated Wisconsin map and a summary for each county on the periodical cicada website’s When and Where page.  Previously, much of this information was buried in the literature, so the Wisconsin Periodical Cicada Website offers a unique look at the known distribution of these insects in the Badger State.

Check out cicadas.wisc.edu for additional details and get ready for all the buzz this spring!

Bugs, Invasive Species, Outdoor Insect Invaders, Tree Insects

Elm Seed Bug: A New Pest to Watch for in Wisconsin

Note: As of late 2023, elm seed bug (ESB) has not yet been found in Wisconsin, but could show up in our area in the near future.

The elm seed bug (Arocatus melanocephalus  | Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) is an invasive insect species native to parts of Europe. It was first detected in North America in 2012 in western Idaho and is now established in western parts of the continental US and Canada. In the eastern US, we haven’t seen much of this insect yet. It was technically spotted in the general Detroit area in Michigan in 2015 and reports continue to pop up in southeastern Michigan. This last summer, I helped confirm the presence of the elm seed bug (and the Asiatic garden beetle!) in the Twin Cities area for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Given the proximity to the Wisconsin state line, the elm seed bug could make an appearance in our state in the not-too-distant future.

Overall, elm seed bugs have habits similar to boxelder bugs and birch catkin bugs in that they feed on trees outdoors before invading structures later in the year.  True to its common name, the elm seed bug is associated with elm trees and is especially fond of feeding on the seeds. They have little overall impact on the health of the trees. Later in the year, adult elm seed bugs seek out sheltered overwintering spots. In natural settings, they would typically overwinter beneath loose bark of trees or similar locations. However, they can readily invade homes and other structures in large numbers.  Indoors, elm seed bugs are harmless to humans, but can be a general nuisance. Like brown marmorated stink bugs, elm seed bugs can also produce an unpleasant odor when crushed. Because ESBs are a nuisance invader like boxelder bugs and multicolored Asian lady beetles, management is going to be very similar and should focus mostly preventing these insects from getting indoors, e.g., physical exclusion and exterior crack and crevice treatments.

Elm Seed Bug Infographic
Infographic describing the main features of the elm seed bug (Arocatus melanocephalus). Infographic created by PJ Liesch, UW Insect Diagnostic Lab. Click for larger version.

Since we have not yet seen elm seed bugs in Wisconsin, having this insect on our radar and being able to recognize it are the most important things at the moment. Elm seed bugs are similar in body shape to boxelder bugs, but are slightly smaller at roughly ¼ – ⅓ inch long. The adults are a dark brownish-black color with rusty-colored patches behind the head. There is a blackish, triangular structure (scutellum) on the middle of the back which sits within a rusty-colored, square-shaped patch. The edge of the abdomen is marked with a series of small, pale spots and the underside of the abdomen is a rusty, reddish color as well.

Wisconsin residents believing that they’ve found elm seed bugs are encouraged to collect a sample and contact me at the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab to definitively confirm the identity of the specimens: insectlab.russell.wisc.edu.

Beetles, IDL Highlights, Outdoor Insect Invaders

Wandering Weevils: Summertime Visitors

If you’ve spotted small, crunchy beetles in your home this summer you aren’t alone.  Broad-nosed weevils (Curculionidae: Entiminae) have been a surprise this summer at the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab.  While I see cases of these insects every year, things have been a bit more intense this summer with a flood of reports from around Wisconsin.

What’s a weevil?  Out of the 100+ different families of beetles, the weevils (Family Curculionidae) are extremely diverse with over 50,000 species in this group alone.  In terms of their appearance, most weevils might remind you of Gonzo from the Muppets with their very pronounced “snouts”.  A great example of this in Wisconsin is the genus Curculio (the “nut and acorn weevils”).  Some species in this group can have a snout (technically “rostrum”) as long as the rest of their body.

The pecan weevil (Curculio caryae). The pronounced rostrum or “snout” is a classic feature of many members of the weevil family. Photo credit: Jennifer C. Girón, Museum of Texas Tech University. Bugwood.org.

On the other hand, some members of the weevil family lack the pronounced snout .  One such group, the subfamily Entiminae, is commonly referred to as the broad-nosed weevils.  Our common broad-nosed weevils tend to be small (around ⅛ – ¼ inch-long) and have pear-shaped bodies with very hard, crunchy exoskeletons; they also have “elbowed” antennae similar to ants.  The color of the broad-nosed weevils can vary by species, but many are blackish or grayish.

The imported longhorned weevil (Calomycterus setarius)—a type of “broad-nosed weevil” that occasionally sneaks indoors. Photo credit: Natasha Wright, Braman Termite & Pest Elimination, Bugwood.org

When it comes to broad-nosed weevils, we have over 100 species in the Midwest alone.  In general, these are “outdoor” species associated with plants.  The larvae tend to feed on the roots of plants while the adults often chew small notches out of the edges of foliage.  Interestingly, a few species in this group have the habit of sneaking indoors during the summer months.  Once inside, these insects are completely harmless but can be a minor nuisance as they seem to mindlessly wander on walls or floors.

During the summer months, some broad-nosed weevils can sneak indoors—occasionally in large numbers. In this case, hundreds of strawberry root weevils (Otiorhynchus ovatus) were wandering on the side of a home. Photo submitted to UW Insect Diagnostic Lab.

Conditions in Wisconsin over the last year and a half must have been just right for some of these species, since I’ve had a flood of requests to help identify broad-nosed weevils in homes and other structures during the summer of 2022.  Often when I see “weevil” cases it’ll be a handful of weevils indoors, but this year I’ve also seen plenty of reports of large numbers of weevils (hundreds or thousands!).  The top three species I’ve been seeing in Wisconsin have been the strawberry root weevil (Otiorhynchus ovatus), the imported longhorn weevil (Calomycterus setarius), and the black vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus).  There are a number of other species in this group that can invade structures as well.  Due to the similar appearance of these beetles, it’s often necessary to get a sample under the microscope to help confirm the exact species.  If you come across broad-nosed weevils in your home and want to know the exact type, feel free to send in a sample to the UW Insect Diagnostic Lab: insectlab.russell.wisc.edu/samples.

While these weevils can be a bit of a nuisance, there usually isn’t much of a need to spray (especially indoors).  In the grand scheme of things, good physical exclusion (i.e., sealing things up better with caulk, expanding insulation foam, better weatherstripping, etc.) can go a long way to help prevent broad-nosed weevils from getting indoors in the first place.  For the weevils that do make it indoors, insecticide really aren’t necessary and sweeping or vacuuming up these slow-moving pests is the best course of action.

Biting Insects, Medical Entomology, Pollinators

Do mosquito yard sprays harm other insects?

If you’ve noticed all the lawn signs for mosquito treatments, you may be wondering if mosquito yard sprays harm other insects. If so, you’re not alone.  As an Extension entomologist, this is a common question that I get from the public every year.  To get to the bottom of this question, it helps to understand the different types of mosquito spraying that’s done.

One approach (Ultra Low Volume or ULV) is sometimes used by municipalities or abatement districts to control mosquitoes.  These ULV applications generally involve using specialized equipment mounted on trucks or aircraft to apply extremely tiny droplets which kill adult mosquitoes by direct contact as the droplets float in the air.  Such applications use very small volumes of insecticides either undiluted or with minimal dilution and are often applied after dark when mosquitoes are most active.  The microscopic droplets from ULV treatments disperse relatively quickly and have little residual activity—think of them like a “one time strike” to knock down mosquito numbers.

The vast majority of research on mosquito sprays and non-target organisms has looked at these ULV-type treatments.  Some good news is that these studies suggest that impacts to non-target insects are relatively small and short-lived.  It turns out that the ULV treatments are most effective on insects with very small body mass, so insects larger than mosquitoes tend to be spared.  A good summary of the impacts of ULV treatments on non-target organisms can be found in a 2012 review paper by J.A.S. Bonds in Medical and Veterinary Entomology. 

Many mosquitoes like to rest on vegetation during the day, so some mosquito sprays specifically target these resting sites. Photo credit: Public Domain Image.

Case closed, right?—Not quite. Here in Wisconsin, we don’t really use ULV treatments a whole lot for mosquitoes.  The common yard treatments are what we’d call “perimeter”, “barrier”, or “residual” treatments.  Such treatments are applied via a backpack sprayer to create a coating or “barrier” on treated surfaces which affects mosquitoes that land on it.  These treatments involve applying a residual insecticide (usually from the pyrethroid group) to vegetation in yards and around structures.  The pyrethroid products are broad-spectrum and often last for a few weeks or longer depending on the formulation.  These same ingredients (and sometimes the exact same products) can also be used to control a wide range of yard, garden, and structural pests (e.g., Japanese beetles, garden pests, household ants, etc.).

While the pyrethroids are very common and widely used for a range of purposes, there’s a knowledge gap when it comes to the impacts of mosquito “barrier” treatments on other insects.  While this knowledge gap exists, a few studies raise concerns.  One study by Dr. Karen Oberhauser and colleagues found that monarch caterpillars could be harmed or killed even 3 weeks after spraying.  A more recent (2022) study by Qualls et al. found that honey bees were harmed 28 days after “barrier” treatments were applied.  Thus, if a yard is being sprayed for mosquitoes monthly during the warm season, there are reasons for concern.  More research is needed to help understand the effects of these “barrier” yard treatments on insects that often land on vegetation in yards, such as moths, butterflies, fireflies and other beetles, true flies, bees, wasps and other pollinators.  

Fireflies can be very common on vegetation in a yard during the summer months. Scientists view pesticides as a concern for fireflies globally. Photo credit: RachelEllen via FLickr CC.   

References:

  • Bonds, J.A.S. 2012. Ultra-low-volume space sprays in mosquito control: a critical review. Medical and Veterinary Entomology. 26: 121-130. 
  • Oberhauser, K.S., Brinda, S.J., Weaver, S., Moon, R.D., Manweiler, S.A., and N. Read. 2006. Growth and Survival of Monarch Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Danaidae) After Exposure to Permethrin Barrier Treatments. Environ. Entomol. 35(6): 1626-1634.
  • Qualls, W.A., Moser, B.A., Periera, R.M., Xue, R-D, and P.G. Koehler. 2022. Impacts Of Barrier Insecticide Mixtures On Mosquito, Aedes Aegypti And Non-Target Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera.  Journal of the Florida Mosquito Control Association 69: 34-42.

 

 

Biting Insects, Medical Entomology

5 Things to Know About Eastern Equine Encephalitis

Every year is different when it comes to mosquito-borne diseases.  During the summer and fall of 2019, the eastern US has seen a bump in cases of a potentially lethal disease—Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE)—which has led to health concerns. Here are five key things to know about Eastern Equine Encephalitis:

1. Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a mosquito-borne disease. But one species in particular, Culiseta melanura, plays a critical role.  Culiseta melanura is widely distributed across the eastern US, but is specifically associated with freshwater swamps with standing trees.  The larvae of this mosquito tend to develop in small, protected, naturally occurring cavities (“crypts”) amongst the roots of trees such as maple, hemlock, and cedar.  Interestingly, Culiseta melanura, does not like to bite humans and almost exclusively takes blood meals from birds.  However, as EEE builds up in local bird populations, other mosquito species with more flexible feeding habits can act as a “bridge” and allow the disease to move from birds to mammals with subsequent blood meals.  A dozen or more mosquito species from the genera Aedes, Coquillettidia, Culex, and Ochlerotatus have been implicated in vectoring the disease from birds to humans.

The mosquito Culiseta melanura
Culiseta melanura—a key player in the Eastern Equine Encephalitis story. Photo Credit: CDC Public Health Image Library.

2. Eastern Equine Encephalitis can pose significant risks to human health, but most human infections result in minor or no symptoms.  Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a disease caused by a virus (the Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus).  According to the CDC, only a small percentage (4-5%) of human infections with this virus actually lead to Eastern Equine Encephalitis.  Thus, the vast majority of human infections lead to minor or no symptoms. 

However, in severe cases of EEE, inflammation of the brain can lead to symptoms including fever, headache, vomiting, confusion, convulsions, and coma.  Roughly a third of such human cases are fatal and survivors often suffer from permanent neurological complications.  Individuals younger than 15 or older than 50 are at greatest risk, as well as individuals that live, work, or recreate near swampy areas. In the US, cases of EEE tend to occur in states along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf coast.  The New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have seen nearly 20 human EEE cases this year.  Cases can also occur in the Midwest, with a cluster of nearly a dozen reports in southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana in 2019.

3. Humans aren’t the only species impacted by Eastern Equine Encephalitis.  In fact, EEE is primarily a bird disease.  For example, many passerine birds (a group that includes our common songbirds such as robins and starlings) can readily become infected with the EEE virus. Some states even use “sentinel” birds to monitor EEE activity.  If the conditions are right in a given year, populations of the ornithophilic mosquito Culiseta melanura can cause EEE to build up in a local bird population.  Eventually, other mosquito species allow the disease to jump from birds to humans.  Horses can also become infected with the EEE virus and because equine infections typically precede human cases by a few weeks, an uptick in horse cases can serve as a general indicator of potential risk to humans in an area.  There is a vaccine available for horses to help protect them from EEE.

Cedar swamp in New Jersey.
Cedar swamp in New Jersey. Photo Credit: Famartin, via Wikipedia. CC 3.0.

4. Eastern Equine Encephalitis is very rare in humans.  Case numbers vary around the eastern US every year, but over the last decade the country has averaged only seven human EEE cases per year.  In Wisconsin, there have only been three documented human cases of EEE between 1964 and 2018.  The limited habitat of the key mosquito species and its restricted feeding behaviours help explain the rarity of human cases.  Despite news reports within the last month, the EEE threat should nearly be done for the year in the Upper Midwest.  Eastern Equine Encephalitis cases typically peak in late summer or early autumn, and with temperatures dipping in the region (and snow in the forecast), mosquito activity is on the decline in our area.

5. General mosquito precautions are one of the simplest ways to protect against Eastern Equine Encephalitis.  Because the key mosquito species involved with EEE (Culiseta melanura) is associated with freshwater swamps, chemical insecticide treatments to such areas are often not an option for individual land owners and can pose environmental concerns.  Instead, practices such as wearing long-sleeved clothing, using EPA-registered repellents (such as DEET and picaridin), avoiding areas and periods of high mosquito activity, and removing standing water on a property are some of the best precautions to take.

Update September 2020: Wisconsin has recently had two confirmed human cases this year.