No. 17/September 24, 2012

Last Biweekly Issue
This is the last of the every other week issues of this year's Home, Yard, and Garden Pest Newsletter. The next issue will be the last one for this year and will be available around October 22, 2012. The last issue will contain the index to topics addressed during this year's issues.

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Plan to Attend the (1st Annual) Illinois First Detector Tree Pest Training Program
Plan on attending the 1st Annual Illinois First Detector Tree Pest Training Program. Ten great reasons are outlined in this article.

IPM Training Modules
Thanks to the Illinois IPM Grant, many University of Illinois Specialists have been busy creating a series of online training modules which cover pertinent pests, weeds, and diseases. Topics will focus on newly emerging, exotic, or invasive pests as well as pests which have generated significant questions or concerns.

Whiteflies
Whiteflies are being found commonly in the landscape, feeding on the leaves of flowers and other herbaceous plants as well as hydrangea, other shrubs, and trees. Generally, late season whiteflies can be ignored, as they are too late to cause serious damage to plant health or even cause obvious aesthetic damage.

Boxelder Bug
Boxelder bugs are common every year, but are very numerous this year. Their numbers are typically much larger in hot, dry years, so their larger numbers this year were expected.

Spotted Wing Drosophila
Over the summer and especially the last few weeks, detections of spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, and reports of larval damage to fruit have been increasing in Illinois and nearby states including Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Infestations have posed problems in Michigan since 2010. In Illinois, the list of counties where this is insect has been collected include Pope, Union, and Marion in the southern part of the state, Champaign, Tazewell, and Adams in the central part of the state, and Ogle County in the north. It likely is present in most if not all of the counties in Illinois.