North Georgia has been deluged with rain since the first of the year, the pollen now has arrived - some days in near record numbers - and it's also time for an influx of spring insects.
Joshua Presley, the UGA Hall County Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent, said in a recent interview with AccessWDUN that the winter rains might actually hold down the population of insects that make their winter homes in the soil. Then again, the winter of 2018-19 was fairly mild and that will play into the "bugginess" of spring.
"So, we've got these two counteracting weather phenomena that are probably going to cancel each other out in a way," Presley said.
Already, there's been enough warm spring weather to prompt flying insects, such as wasps and stink bugs, to start making an appearance.
"The biggest thing I want folks to be on the lookout for is pollinators...which is going to be good for flowers and fruit production and that sort of thing," Presley said, noting that people sometimes do harm to beneficial insects - like honey bees - when they try to control dangerous pests such as fire ants.
"We need to be careful about the chemicals and the products that we use and reading the label, so we know when to apply so we have the lowest impact on those pollinator populations," Presley said.
While there are insects in our region that sting - such as fire ants - and insects that carry disease - such as mosquitos - there are those critters that are simply annoying, and Presley said we've probably started seeing those already.
"[Stink bugs] are more of a nuisance pest," Presley said. "They are technically invasive...they're not necessarily harmful, but they will feed on a lot of crop products and your landscape plants, as well."
Presley said stink bugs tend to try to come inside to find a warm spot, just as lady bugs will do.
To find out more about a specific issue with insects, Presley said it's best to personally contact the University of Georgia Extension Office in Hall County. To find contact information follow this link.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/4/782252/another-sign-of-spring-in-north-georgia-bugs