Based on the number of calls coming into my office, early-season insects are already giving homeowners a lot of problems. Let me share a little information about several of them.

One of the most frustrating insects to deal with is carpenter bees. Carpenter bees resemble bumblebees, but they have abdomens that are entirely black and shiny. Bumblebees have yellow hairs on their abdomens.

In the spring, carpenter bees drill holes about 3/8 inch in diameter into wood, most notably into decks, eaves, and siding. The holes are unsightly, sawdust and droppings create a mess everywhere, and the hovering bees seem to be a threat.

Female carpenter bees may tunnel 18-24 inches along the grain of the wood, constructing a nesting gallery. Inside the gallery, she places a mixture of pollen and nectar upon which she deposits an egg. This portion of the gallery is then sealed and the process is repeated until the gallery is filled with these individual cells.

The eggs hatch into larvae that develop through the summer. The larvae mature into adult bees within the gallery and emerge some time in the late summer or early fall. Although the females can sting, they are rarely aggressive and almost never sting. The males have a conspicuous white spot on their heads and will appear aggressive as they guard the nest. As is the case with other bees and wasps, the males do not have a stinger.

Carpenter bees may be controlled by dusting or squirting insecticide into each hole and then plugging the hole with steel wool, caulk, a dowel, or similar plug. Plugging the holes may be a time-consuming job, but if it is not done, water may seep in during rains and lead to wood-rot problems or attract other pests, such as carpenter ants and termites. Also, open nests may be reused next year by other bees.

Unless the wood is infested repeatedly, carpenter bee damage is rarely significant enough to affect the structural integrity of the wood. Unfinished wood, older painted wood, and even wood that is stained and waterproofed may be attacked. There is really no cost-effective and environmentally sound way of protecting every square inch of siding or decking from attack using pesticides.

The best way to control carpenter bees is with a forehand stroke using an old tennis racket or boat paddle. Since these bees tend to hover around the area in which they are nesting, it is very easy to get into position and swat them as they fly by. Remember, they are not aggressive. Even though you may not kill them all, eliminating most of them will drastically reduce the number you will have to deal with next year.

Asian lady beetles and box elder bugs are also nuisances at this time of the year. Asian lady beetles resemble the common lady beetle in size, but the red colors vary somewhat and the black spots on the back are more random. The box elder bug is oval shaped, about one-half inch long, black, with a distinct red "V" pattern on the back.

Both of these insects overwinter as adults. Unfortunately, they often choose to overwinter under the siding of houses. When the weather warms up in the spring, they emerge from hibernation. Their instinct is to go out into the yard, garden, or woods to begin feeding, but unfortunately, many of them get lost and wind up inside the home. Sometimes it seems that thousands of them will just bask in the sun and create an unsightly and aggravating mass of bugs on the side of the house.

Although many insecticides are very effective at killing these pests, it is often a losing battle to try to do so. More will just continue to come for a while. Since they will all migrate away from the house in a few weeks, it is best to just wait them out. Spot treatments around doorways and windows may provide a little relief, and those inside the home can be simply vacuumed up. Be sure to dispose of the vacuum bag, because a bag full of rotting bugs is just about as annoying as the bugs themselves.

And finally, Eastern tent caterpillars are now beginning to make their appearance in the county. These caterpillars are slightly hairy, a little over an inch long, with stripes down their sides.

Although Eastern tent caterpillars can be a bad problem for people living in areas with extremely high infestations, these caterpillars tend to be somewhat cyclic. They may be very bad in one community this year and hardly noticeable at all in other communities. Then next year, they will be bad in other communities and hardly noticeable where they were the year before.

There are many good insecticides that will kill these caterpillars. Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to treat the large trees where they are feeding, since they prefer sweet gums, oaks, and other large forest trees. Homeowners do not have sprayers that will reach into the large trees, and applications by airplanes are not possible because of dwellings so near to the trees where the problems are located.

The presence of these caterpillars is often fairly short. They will often totally defoliate the trees where they are feeding. Most of them will then die from starvation or will have completed their life cycle, and the problem is over, at least for this year.

This is a quick review of just a few of the critters we are now dealing with in the county. What will come next. Keep reading this column and I will let you know.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 04/27/06