Good website: hungrypests.com

[cynthia_h]

Heard a spot on the radio today while in the car and followed it up when I got home. This site, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides information on thirteen (13!) hungry pests identified, described, and in some cases even quarantined in the United States. The site gives advice on

--how not to continue spreading these pests, e.g., don't move fresh produce from a quarantined area, don't move live plants without having them inspected, etc.,
--how to identify the pests in various stages of growth,
--what plants they favor as food (when they're picky), and so on.

What are these "hungry pests"? How about...

Asian Citrus Psyllid
Asian Longhorned Beetle
Citrus Greening
Emerald Ash Borer
European Grapevine Moth
European Gypsy Moth
False Codling Moth
Giant African Snail
Light Brown Apple Moth
Mediterranean Fruit Fly
Mexican Fruit Fly
Oriental Fruit Fly
Sudden Oak Death

The website isn't alarming people unnecessarily; these are organisms/creatures that could wipe out whole forests/crops and change the ecosystem and/or our access to certain foods permanently.

Take a look at [url=https://hungrypests.com]hungrypests.com[/url] for a well-designed, thorough, interactive, and (dare I say it?) educational website.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[rainbowgardener]

Thanks for the tip, cynthia, really nice site.

I looked up Ohio on the pest tracker. It shows the whole state infested with emerald ash borer, which I knew. Ash trees dying all around us - they are a plentiful tree here and some of them are beautiful old trees. Very sad.

It also shows the north and particularly north east of the state with gypsy moths, but not where I am and one little outbreak of Asian longhorned beetles a little bit east of me. It is really helpful to see those maps. Think I will stay out of those woods, especially the area (which I think is state park/ forest) with the longhorned beetles.

We are shown as "at risk" for european grapevine moth.

I will spend some more time with the site, reading the "what can you do" parts.