Plant Protection Update #20

Household

The small brown beetles getting into houses now are foreign grain beetles. They are attracted to new house construction but don't infest wood. Even though their name implies otherwise they rarely infest grain. Tell folks that they will go away in a few weeks but check grains in the house just in case they get established. Generally they will not be attracted to houses over 1 year old.

Lawn

Large numbers of wasps are moving over the lawn area now. These are mostly Scoliid Wasps, Scolia dubia, and they are parasites of Green June Beetles. The wasps are red and black, hairy, and have two yellow spots on the abdomen. They rarely sting.

Eric Day
Insect Identification Laboratory
Department of Entomology
307 Price Hall
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(W) 540-231-4899
Fax 540-231-9131

idlab@vt.edu

See my lab homepage:

http://www.ento.vt.edu/Facilities/OnCampus/IDInfo.html