Insect Diagnostic Laboratory

This week the clover mites have still been trickling into the Insect Diagnostic Clinic. We have also seen some termite swarmers. Termite swarmers are usually small and brown with large wings. Swarmers are winged males and female termites leaving a well-established colony to fly off, mate, and start a new colony. Very few swarmers ever actually start a new colony, but hundreds of them leave the old colony to try.

We have also been seeing more ticks. This week the American dog tick and Lone star ticks seem to be the most popular. Ticks have several stages in their life cycle and the smaller nymphs also will feed on humans. Often people worry that any small tick is a deer tick, when often they are nymphs of one of our other tick species. Also, the deer tick (also known as the red-legged tick) is somewhat smaller than the Lone Star and Dog tick, but not that much smaller. I was surprised when I saw my first one because it looked like a normal sized tick, and I always imagined something much smaller.

This week in the Iowa Insect Diagnostic clinic we have been receiving reports of clover mites, a harmless but annoying, mite species that has a tendency to migrate in large numbers in the spring and fall, accidentally wandering into homes. They are often associated with well fertilized and cared for lawns and new sod. Often they are a problem for owners of new homes for a few years. The best thing to do for clover mites is to vacuum them up, but sure to avoid crushing them because they leave a permanent purplish-red stain.

The ants are also out and about foraging again. Ants can be a large problem in kitchens. There are many species of ants in Iowa and so the best thing to do is send some of the ants into the Insect Diagnostic Clinic for correct identification and advice on the best ways to reduce their numbers. Although on a personal note, I find that the carpenter ants in my kitchen love empty pop cans, so switching to diet pop helps reduce the numbers coming indoors because there is no sugar in the empty can for them.

Also the ticks are out and about and I expect a lot more reports as we all head to the woods in the next few weeks for those morel mushrooms.