Plants or Crops

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Magnified image of a springtail that is hairy and dark blue in color.

What are those black bugs jumping on the snow?

One of the first critters you may notice in early spring or even late winter are snow fleas. These tiny arthropods can be an odd sight when they appear by the hundreds on top of snow drifts that are melting on warm, sunny days.

Black hairy caterpillar with a dark brown band in the middle of its body. The caterpillar is crawling on grey cement with visible pebbles present in the substrate.

Are those woolly bear caterpillars I see crawling?

Anyone that spent the weekend outdoors may have observed flies, wasps, bees, and others flying around for the first time this year. One of these insects is a familiar one, the woolly bear caterpillar.

two beetles side-by-side. The left one is a ladybeetle. The right is a colorado potato beetle.

Beetles in Your Garden: Friends and Foes

Two types of beetles are increasingly common on vegetable garden this time of the year. Interestingly enough, one is a predator that helps out gardeners getting rid of pestiferous insects while the other is a pest busily munching on the foliage.

several medium-size cedar trees growing along a fence

Woody Weeds: Eastern Red Cedar

While eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is native to South Dakota, and has many positive qualities, it has become a problem species over large areas of the Great Plains.

a downy woodpecker resting on a wooden pole

Woodpeckers Attacking Bur Oaks

Woodpeckers have been seen across the region chipping away at the bark of young bur oak. The woodpeckers can shred most of the bark from young trees, enough that the trees are killed by this injury.

an orange lady beetle with nine black spots

Lady Beetles of South Dakota

Lady beetles are one of the most familiar groups of beneficial insects. Farmers and gardeners appreciate them for devouring insect pests. Both adult lady beetles and caterpillar-like juveniles eat pests.

White grub with a C-shaped, white to cream-colored body, tan to brown head, 3 pairs of legs, and transparent abdomen.

White Grub Damage to Lawns

White grubs are root-infesting larvae that are the immature stages of scarab beetles. Grub-infested turfgrass may turn brown and die from drought stress due to the inability to take up water from loss of roots.

hands holding a sample of turf with thick thatch.

Understanding Thatch in Turf

Many homeowners have a misconception that thatch in turfgrass is undesirable and should be eliminated; however, when thatch is not excessive it is actually beneficial to the turf.

cluster of bright red raspberries with small black beetles burrowed inside some berries.

Picnic Beetles on Raspberries

Picnic beetles, a small beetle that loves fermenting fruit (and potato salad at picnics), commonly feed on raspberries. The beetle can quickly ruin a ripe raspberry as they burrow around inside the fruit.

several yellow and black striped beetles feeding on plant leaves

What's Bugging Your Garden? Cucumber Beetles

Striped cucumber beetles are little yellow and black striped beetles that are fairly small, but what they lack in size they make up for in numbers and appetite.