Insects flourish after mild winter
By PETeR H. MILLIKEN | milliken@vindy.com
CANFIELD
Following the mild winter, insect emergence here this year is running ahead of the usual schedule, an Ohio State University extension educator said.
“We’re ahead of every year in the past five years, except 2012 that was really warm” and included a warm spring, observed Eric Barrett.
“We’re seeing a lot of gnats” in low-lying areas near water this spring, he observed.
“We could see some issues with mosquitoes this year,” he added.
At the extension office and the nearby Mill Creek MetroParks Farm, extension office personnel keep track of the timing of plant blooms and insect emergence each year; and weather stations around the state help in this effort, Barrett said.
“I think we’ll see flea beetles” that attack sweet corn, he said. “I think we’ll definitely see an issue there because of the warmer than usual winter,” Barrett said.
However, Barrett urges the public not to act impulsively concerning insect control measures and to consider spraying to be the last resort.
“Just be vigilant. The first thing is, definitely, identify that insect. Is it really a pest or not? We don’t want them to kill an insect that’s a good insect,” which eats other insects, he said.
“If anybody has an insect they think is an issue, bring it in and we’ll identify it,” Barrett said.
“We get everything from bed bugs, unfortunately, to multi-colored Asian lady beetles to green lace wings,” he observed.
The insect pest identification walk-in diagnostic clinic is now open without an appointment from 9 a.m. to noon, Mondays and Thursdays, at the extension office, 490 S. Broad St.
The public is urged to take the insect to the extension office in a container, along with samples of the leaves it has been eating, he said.
Two weeks ago, the extension office here identified a black-legged tick, known as a deer tick, that had been correctly removed after having been found on a young child, Barrett said.
That variety of tick is capable of transmitting Lyme disease, and the girl was seen by a physician after the tick was removed, he recalled.
Tweezers should be used to extract the mouth part of the tick from the skin; and, to avoid pushing any blood inside the tick into the skin, the tick should not be pinched, he advised.
Besides assisting the public directly, the extension office identifies insects for local public health officials, Barrett said.
To reduce the threat of mosquito-borne illnesses, the best strategy is to eliminate the pools of standing water in which they breed, he said.
Such pools are found in scrap tires, unclean bird baths in shaded areas, or in improperly-installed gutters, he said.
To avoid mosquito bites, the Ohio Department of Health advises wearing long sleeves and long pants and socks and mosquito repellent while outdoors, especially at dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
Mosquito-borne diseases in Ohio include West Nile virus and St. Louis, La Crosse and Eastern equine encephalitis, ODH said.
Heavy rainfall and warmth are the major triggers of mosquito breeding, said Tara Cioffi, director of environmental health at the Youngstown Health Department.
Cioffi said her department has three licensed inspectors, including herself, who are prepared to spray insecticides and larvicides against mosquitoes, if necessary, by hand and on foot.
The city does not have truck-mounted fogging equipment, but could buy it, if necessary, she said.
Last summer, Alexander’s Pest Control Inc. of New Springfield sprayed insecticide and larvicide against mosquitoes in areas that generated complaints, Cioffi said.
Mosquitoes capable of carrying the Zika virus may be found as far north as the Pittsburgh area and even in the Mahoning Valley, Barrett said.
However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have not been any locally acquired Zika cases within the 50 United States, but there have been 312 travel-associated cases in the 50 states so far. Active transmission of Zika is now occurring in Latin America, CDC says.