Insect & Pests

All Insect & Pests Content

An orange beetle with black spots and a white head sitting on a green leaf

Lady Beetles of South Dakota

A guide for monitoring, properly identify, and promoting the growth of lady beetles.

Growing Tomatoes in South Dakota

Few vegetables inspire us more than home-grown tomatoes, bursting with vine-ripe flavor. Tomatoes are easy to grow in containers or in the ground, and are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, as well as cancer-fighting lycopenes.

Several small green insects on a plant leaf.

Soybean Aphids in South Dakota

Factsheet on Soybean Aphids in South Dakota

Three common aphids. From left: Green peach aphid colony. Potato aphid colony. Foxglove aphid on the underside of a pepper leaf.

Are Your Pepper Plants Covered With Aphids?

During this time of the growing season, it is common to observe aphids on garden plants, including peppers. However, when dense aphid populations are present, they can reduce pepper yields and cause rapid plant health decline.

Orange beetle with black markings on an orange flower

Orange Beetles Are Killing My Flowers, or Are They?

Many gardens are being invaded by orange beetles that have a strong preference for flowering plants. Rest assured, these are soldier beetles and they aren’t feeding on the flowers! Instead, they are actually predators and pollinators.

Black, yellow, and brown wasp in a clear container

Huge Wasps on My Tree! No, Those Still Aren’t Murder Hornets.

Another insect that has been mistaken for the Asian giant hornet (also known by its media-popularized name of ‘murder hornet’) is the horntail wasp. Horntail wasps are wood-boring insects that are harmless to humans, as they do not have venom and cannot sting.

Black caterpillars with white stripes feeding on green Canada thistle.

Thistle Caterpillars Showing Up on Canada Thistle

This week we received reports of caterpillars feeding on Canada thistle. After taking a look at the caterpillars, we determined that they are thistle caterpillars. However, we typically don’t see thistle caterpillar activity in S.D. until July or August. So why are they showing up so early this year?

Small, green soybean aphids on a green, soybean stem with pink flower.

Small Populations of Soybean Aphids Observed in South Dakota

While scouting fields last week, we observed small populations of soybean aphids near Volga, South Dakota. Although no sustained populations were observed, it is a good reminder that soybean aphid scouting should occur throughout the growing season to prevent population outbreaks.

Image of western South Dakota where green triangles indicate areas with low grasshopper populations, orange squares indicate medium grasshopper populations, and red circles indicate high grasshopper populations that exceeded thresholds.

2019 South Dakota Grasshopper Forecast

The USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service conducts an annual survey to monitor grasshopper populations in Western South Dakota. In 2018, SDSU conducted a survey to monitor populations in Eastern South Dakota. These previous-year surveys can be used as a prediction tool for where grasshoppers may be an issue during the upcoming season.

Cancellation of Several Neonicotinoids

On May 20, 2019, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced the cancellation of registrations for 12 products that contain neonicotinoid insecticides. The cancellation of the product registrations was voluntarily requested by the companies that had registered the products.