Cicada killers set all time record and appear to be growing in size
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I believe the lab has received more cicada killer calls this year than in the previous five, possibly ten years combined. And they appear to be getting bigger. Several people who have called this past week described a giant wasp digging in their yards to be over three inches in length. This may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but I think the point is that these guys are really big and really scary wasps.
Spider mites continue their reign as the number one landscape and garden pest, followed closely by Japanese beetles. If the leaves on your trees and shrubs are turning an off-color, then there is a good chance that spider mites are to blame. We had samples in the lab this week that had over 40 live mites with many more unhatched eggs on a single average size leaf.
