About The Lee County ledger. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1978-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2019)
Page 6A,The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, June 19,2019 Mosquito season has arrived and homeowners should eliminate pest habitat Special to the Ledger By Elmer Gray for CAES News Mosquito activity this spring has been nearly as erratic as Georgia’s recent weather. Following an unusu ally wet 2018, periods of heavy rain this spring produced standing water in many low-lying areas. In May, it quickly turned hot and dry, plunging most of the state into an abnormally dry to moderate drought status, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map. While the lack of rain across Georgia dried up some mosquito larval habitats, the recent spell of hot afternoons and warm nights has spurred larval develop ment where water has remained, initiating mos quito season in earnest. Mosquito larvae have been observed in es sentially everything that holds water in the past few weeks and the warm nights have only served to increase their rate of development. In the wake of the significant rains over the past few days, home- owners should eliminate any standing water left behind. Mosquitoes require standing water for their larval and pupal stages, so the elimination of all forms of stand ing water is extremely important around homes and in communities. The female mosquito will lay eggs on the surface of standing water or in places that later become flooded or filled with water. Once the eggs have been wet for a period of time, they hatch, and the larvae feed on particles and graze on algae-covered surfaces in their larval habitat. The larval stage may only require five to six days on the warmest Georgia nights, but lar vae usually take a little longer before transform ing into the pupal stage. After two to three days as a pupa, adult mosquitoes emerge onto the water’s surface and begin their search for nectar and plant juices that are used for flight energy. The female will look for a blood meal to acquire the nutrients needed to stimulate egg production. It is this need to blood feed that makes mosquitoes such a serious nuisance and public health pest. Last year Georgia had 34 cases of West Nile virus detected and two deaths. One case of eastern equine en cephalitis and one case of St. Louis encephali tis were also detected. While these numbers aren’t overwhelming, the mosquito control profession considers all mosquito-borne disease to be preventable. Any time encephalitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain) is involved, it can become very serious and have long-lasting effects. For West Nile virus, many people are exposed to the virus and do not show any symptoms. It’s estimated that 20% of the people exposed to the West Nile virus develop West Nile fever, and 1 in 150 people develop a more severe form of the disease. These cases in volve high fever, severe headaches and disori entation that can have long-lasting effects. This is why it is so important to prevent mosquito bites. It is help ful to wear light-colored, loose-fitting pants and long-sleeved shirts if mosquitoes are present. Compared to darker col ors, light-colored cloth ing provides less contrast in the environment and minimizes a person’s heat image. Pants and sleeved shirts minimize the amount of exposed skin. The proper application of an Environmental Protection Agency-ap proved repellent on any exposed skin provides another boundary to help prevent bites. Prod ucts containing DEET continue to be excel lent choices, but other EPA-approved repellents containing picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus and the newer 2-undecanone all have proven to be effective. IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus and 2-un- decanone are classified as biopesticides by the EPA. Products contain ing DEET, IR3535 and picaridin are approved for use on children two months or older. Accord ing to Consumer Re ports, DEET, picaridin and oil of lemon euca lyptus are three of the most effective repellents. It is important to get complete coverage with any of these repellents. Adults should always apply repellents to chil dren. In many areas, the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is the most common daytime pest. This mosquito typically develops in containers and usually doesn’t fly more than 100 yards from its larval habitat. Homeowners often un intentionally help create mosquito populations in hidden habitats around their properties. Planter trays, tarps, buckets, tires, and drainage pipes and systems are some of the most common household habitats. On a larger scale, com munity clean up efforts can have significant impact on mosquito populations. Used-tire abatement programs, cleaning up litter, and removing other dis carded or abandoned items can serve as a viable part of an inte grated mosquito man agement program. As a last resort, unmaintained properties that are creat ing a public health risk due to mosquitoes can be addressed through code enforcement in Crape myrtles are very easy to grow and are very attractive in the landscape. That is why you see so many in land scapes in the South. Crape myrtles come in colors ranging from white to red, with pinks and watermelon in between. The mature height of crape myrtles varies tremendously among varieties. Some will only grow eigh teen or so inches tall. Other varieties will reach heights of forty or more feet. Although they are deciduous, they have fairly attractive trunks that exfoliate bark and look good throughout the winter. Crape myrtles will generally bloom throughout the summer. They are considered shrubs or small trees. They are generally multi-stemmed. Efforts to turn them into single stemmed trees are gener ally unsuccessful. Crape myrtles are very drought tolerant. These are tough plants that can continue to survive even gross neglect. Crape myrtles are sub ject to some problems. Many varieties are sub ject to powdery mildew. Some of the varieties with Indian names, such as “Apalachee”, “Biloxi”, and “Catawba”, are mil dew resistant. Another problem that is common is sooty mold on leaves caused by aphids. The variety “Natchez” is resistant to aphids. Crape myrtles produce a lot of trash, in addi tion to dead leaves in the fall. The petals fall as most communities. For more information, see the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Circular 1154, “Best Management Practices of Integrated Mosquito Management,” at https://extension.uga. edu/publications. The publication provides basic guidance on what communities can do to suppress mosquito popu lations. Elmer Gray is a Cooperative Extension entomologist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sci ences. the blooms deteriorate. More of a nuisance than the petals are the seed pods that fall after the seeds mature. “Deadheading”, or removing the spent flow ers, will keep the plant blooming throughout the season rather than divert ing resources to seed production. I usually write a col umn on pruning crape myrtles during late winter, so I won’t go into pruning here. I will mention that I haven’t pruned my crape myrtles in a number of years and I enjoy excellent shade from them on my house. I have the white-flow ered “Natchez” variety. This is a very common variety. One expert even claims that it has been over-used. Even though it is resistant to aphids, when I walk under them during the summer, I sometimes feel droplets of moisture, almost lime it is sprinkling rain. This is the excretion of a sugary liquid by the aphids as they feed. This is known as honeydew. This is the substance that sooty mold grows on that causes the leaves of crape myrtles (and some other plants) to turn black. If you want to know what varieties have a cer tain flower color, or you want to know the char acteristics of a certain variety, give me a call. I have information on several varieties. For more information, call the Lee County Extension Office at 759-6025, or email me at collinsd@uga.edu VILLAGER CLEANERS 5 Convenient Locations! Leesburg 1591 US Highway 19 S 229.889.0156 Leesburg 1324 US Hwy 82 West 229.446.9200 Albany 2339 Whispering Pines Rd Albany 229.435.3050 2614 N. Jefferson St. #1 Americus 229.883.8863 409 w Lamar st . 229.924.9110 Thank You For Supporting Our SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN OWNED SMALL RDSINESS 170 IT IT ^cVe« r ALL Pediatric and Adult Prosthetic Orthotic Diabetic Footwear Evaluations John P. Rodman, Sr., C.P.O., FAAOP, LPO U.S. Army (Retired) Certified Prosthetist/Orthotist Practice Manager LimBcaRe. PROSTHETICS & ORTHOTICS OF GEORGIA Albany Location Also In Americus, 1919 Palmyra Rd. Cordele, Tifton, 430-9778 And Valdosta 855-639-3202 www.limbcareonline.com We Are A Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business RESIDENTIAL FAMILY STARTING AT *2.199 Westover Lawn & Garden 500 S. WESTOVER BLVD. Near The Fairgrounds 229-436-1507 The University of Georgia • Cooperative Extension Service i o Crape Myrtles Doug Collins, Lee County Extension Coordinator Puttins K nowledge toVYork'j ^ Crape myrtles are in full bloom now. They are easy to grow, and will survive just about any amount of neglect. Be warned that they produce a lot of seed pods that will end up on the ground, or walkway, patio, driveway, or anything else underneath the plant. Crape Myrtles
