LOCAL BUGS FOUND IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY

Ladybugs (also known as ladybird beetles) fall in the "beneficial" category of insect and are probably the best known and most valued of the beetle family. Ladybugs eat aphids, which eat crops and garden plants and are a nuissance to the gardener (see below). There are many different species of ladybugs, with unique "spotting" patterns.

Green Lacewings eat mostly aphids and are therefore helpful to the gardener and come under the category of beneficial insect. They are very elegant, with their many-veined wings and their delicate lime-green bodies and their bulging golden eyes.

A honey bee is primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests from wax. The best known honey bee is the Western Honey Bee, which been domesticated for honey production and crop pollination. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, including the stingless honey bees, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.

Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name “praying mantis”.

Spotted wing drosophila have recently been found in many areas of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, infesting ripening cherry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, and strawberry crops; it has also been observed attacking other soft-flesh fruit such as boysenberry, Japanese plums, plumcots, and nectarines. Adults and maggots closely resemble the common vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and other Drosophila species that primarily attack rotting or fermenting fruit. The spotted wing drosophila, however, readily attacks undamaged fruit. Adults are small (2-3 mm) flies with red eyes and a pale brown thorax and abdomen with black stripes on the abdomen. The most distinguishable trait of the adult is that the males have a black spot towards the tip of each wing. Larvae are tiny (up to 3.5 mm), white cylindrical maggots that are found feeding in fruit.

Aphids are common garden pests. Aphids are small, soft-bodied, pear-shaped insects that have long antennae and a characteristic pair of cornicles (short tubes) extending on either side of their abdomen. Their translucent bodies are most usually green, red, brown, yellow or white. Although aphid damage is most noticeable on ornamental, fruit and shade trees, they can also infest flower and vegetable gardens. You will find aphid colonies on the underside of leaves, the tips of branches or anywhere there is new growth. An initial infestation of aphids is usually localized, but can spread quickly if allowed to develop unchecked. Aphids damage plants by sucking the sap from leaves, twigs, stems or roots and can sometimes transmit plant virus diseases in the process.

Coryneum Blight is a fungus disease of apricots, peaches and cherries. The disease on fruit is most severe when there is frequent wet weather. On peach twigs, small, dark, circular to eliptical spots develop, some becoming gummy. On peach, apricot and cherry fruits, Coryneum blight causes small reddish-brown to purple spots, some of which appear scabby later in the season.The most important step in controlling most of these fruit tree problems is good sanitation, i.e. picking all fruit at harvest time and not allowing fruit to rot at the base of the tree. Remove all mummified fruit from the branches, as many fungi overwinter this way. Good pruning practice each season opens the canopy of the trees, allowing more sunlight and air ciruclation, as well as better gravity fruit.

In the Okanagan Valley, cherry fruit flies begin to emerge from pupae in the soil in early June and continue to emerge throughout August. The flies begin laying eggs under the skin of the cherries when the fruit first starts to turn from blush to red in colour. White legless maggots bore out of the cherries, drop to the ground, and pupate near the surface of the soil. There is one generation each year, although a small percentage of the flies may produce a second generation.

Codling moths infest apples, pears, flowering crabapples and quince. Codling moth injury is characterized by holes in the fruit, which are plugged with frass. Codling month larvae are white with black heads in early stages, and pink with molted brown heads when mature. Adults are small grey moths with a copper spot at the tip of each forewing. First brood moths appear in late May to early June, and second brood moths in late July to early August. Codling moth activity depends on the weather, with temperature the principal factor. Timing of the first brook spray is very difficult to determine because of the variable weather conditions in May and June, therefore we at Olson's Pest Control work closely with government trapping programmes to determine the best time to spray.

Leafrollers overwinter as eggs which begin to hatch at the pink bud stage of apples. Larvae are green with black heads and feed upon buds, leaves and fruit. Early season feeding on apples and pears causes deep russeted scars on mature fruit, and malformation and pitting on cherries.

Peach, apricot, nectarine, plum and occasionally cherry trees are attacked by these pests. Masses of gum mixed with sawdust and frass near the soil line of the tree trunk indicate borer damage. The removal of this gum and bark around damaged areas will reveal feeding tunnels and cream-coloured larvae wtith brown heads. Young trees may be girdled by larval feeding while larger trees are weakened and therefore susceptible to attack by secondary pests, including shothole borer and ambrosia beetles.

Giant Crane flies live as scavengers in the soil. Adult crane flies do not prey on mosquitoes, nor do they bite humans. Adults are very slender and long-legged, varying in length up to a little under 2-1/2 inches (60 millimetres). The eggs are laid in late September and hatch out and start to feed in early April when the soil temperature starts to increase. Damages are noticed by large brown patches in the lawn and when you lift dead turf areas, you will notice large brownish grey grubs feeding at the root base of the turf, which are the "leatherjackets". They can also attack young bedding plants in flower beds. At this time, you will need a spray treatment to control them. Once they become adults, most crane fly species exist as adults only to mate and die.

Black Widow Spiders are usually found outdoors in dark, cool, dry areas, such as under patio decks and stairs, woodpiles, sheltered areas, etc. The bite from a Black Widow Spider is toxic to humans, specially for those with allergic reactions to bites and stings. Good habits of keeping areas swept and clear of webs will control most of these spiders. In heavy infestations, spray treatment may be required.

Wolf spiders are found both outside and inside the house. Wolf spiders do not spin webs. You will usually see them in grassy places, where they search for other bugs. Wolf spiders are robust and agile hunters with good eyesight. They live mostly solitary lives and hunt alone. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it or even chasing it over short distances. Some will even wait for passing prey in or near the mouth of a burrow.Wolf spiders have two eyes out of eight that are large and prominent, distinguishing them from similar spiders.

Bed bugs are about 5 mm in length. Although the perception has always been that bed bugs abound in unsanitary places, they are being found in high end hotels and cruise ships, and in nice clean homes. The indicators that there are bed bugs present are that you may find many red, itchy bites or welts on your skin after you get up. You may also see small brown bugs on or near the mattress, and black spots on your sheets and mattress. If your bed becomes infested with bed bugs, unfortunately the best treatment is to dispose of the mattress and box spring and have your rugs and complete room treated by professionals such as Olson's Pest Control. This will require two treatments at 10-day intervals.

Yellowjackets are members of the wasp family. They have a lance-like stinger with small barbs and typically sting repeatedly,though occasionally the stinger becomes lodged and pulls free of the wasp's body. The venom, like most bee or wasp venoms, is primarily only dangerous to those who are allergic, unless a victim receives a large number of stings . Nests are built in trees, shrubs, or in protected places such as inside human-made structures (attics, hollow walls or flooring, in sheds, under porches, and eaves of houses), or in soil cavities, mouse burrows, etc. Nests are made from wood fiber chewed into a paper-like pulp. Yellowjackets' closest relatives, the hornets, closely resemble them but have a much bigger head, seen especially in the large distance from the eyes to the back of the head.

Harpaphe haydeniana, commonly known as the yellow-spotted millipede, almond-scented millipede or cyanide millipede, is a species of polydesmidan millipede found in the moist forests along the Pacific coast of North America, from Southeast Alaska to California. The dark coloration with contrasting yellow-tipped keels warn of its ability to exude toxic hydrogen cyanide as a defense.

Silverfish bugs are mostly limited to areas with quite a bit of moisture, as they require humidity upwards of 75%. Although they are not commonly found in urban areas, they have been known to inhabit areas of the home where moisture is found including kitchens, garages, closets and bathrooms. Silverfish are considered to be among the most damaging of pests because of their ability to rapidly multiply and destroy property. In urban environments, they will continually feast upon whatever sugars and starches that they can find in the home, and are quick to move around the house in search of food when they are unable to locate food in their present area. One silverfish may have as many as sixty six offspring over the course of their lifetime.

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea, which also includes termites termites. Although there are 4,600 cockroach species, about four species are well known as pests to human habitats. Cockroaches date back at least as far as 320 million years ago. Cockroaches are somewhat generalized insects without special adaptations like the sucking mouthparts of aphids and other true bugs; they have chewing mouthparts and are likely among the most primitive of living neopteran insects. They are common and hardy insects, and can tolerate a wide range of environments from arctic cold to tropical heat. Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger than temperate species.

Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera and are found on all continents except Antartica. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forceps-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded underneath short forewings, hence the scientific order name, "skin wings". Some groups are tiny parasites on mammals and lack the typical pincers. Earwigs rarely use their flying ability. Earwigs are mostly nocturnal and often hide in small, moist crevices during the day, and are active at night, feeding on a wide variety of insects and plants. Damage to foliage, flowers, and various crops is commonly blamed on earwigs.