It’s the middle of the summer here in Central Alabama, and we’ve come to see it as the peak of the onslaught of pests that seemingly delight in tormenting us and the crops we try to grow. Every farmer needs to whine every now and then; this is our chance to whine about critters and weeds.
And yes, we have some good news too, mainly about those times when we have mustered the patience to do nothing about a pest while we waited for one of its predators to find it and help us keep it from ruining our lives.
Listen – 20:27
As promised, here’s the laundry list of the pests we discuss in today’s program:
- Spotted Wing Drosophilia
- Plum Curculio
- Fire ants
- Squash bugs
- Squash vine borers
- Voles
- Carolina grasshoppers
- Stink bugs
- Leaf-footed bugs
- Kudzu bugs
- And for that matter, kudzu itself.
- Poison ivy
- And then there are the plain old weeds that always keep us busy.
The predator Amanda was remembering in our conversation is a parasite that feasts on the guts of the kudzu bug. There’s some information about it here and here.