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Content by Patrick Wagner

Man wearing a long-sleeved shirt and waterproof gloves loading pesticide-contaminated clothing into a washer. Courtesy: NDSU Extension

How to Properly Launder Insecticide-Contaminated Clothes

It is important to prevent insecticide exposure from occurring when laundering contaminated or potentially contaminated clothing.

A vast, open rangeland with a few patches of weeds.

An identification guide to common Rangeland Insect Pests of South Dakota

The insects listed in this guide can be pests of rangeland in South Dakota. The best approach for preventing these pests from reaching damaging populations involves routine scouting.

soybean pods

New Multi-State Extension Publication: Managing Insecticide-Resistant Soybean Aphids

The first pyrethroid resistant soybean aphids were reported in Minnesota in 2015. Since then, pyrethroid resistant soybean aphids have been reported in Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In an effort to address resistance, researchers from those states have put together a new extension publication.

Managing Cucumber Beetles

Two cucumber beetle species occur in South Dakota; the striped cucumber beetle and the spotted cucumber beetle (also known as the southern corn rootworm).

squash bug adult feeding on a green leaf

Protecting Your Garden From Squash Bugs

With the end of summer approaching, we are beginning to receive many reports of squash bugs appearing throughout South Dakota. These insects are a common pest in gardens from mid-summer until the first frost.

small white larvae on a green stem

Small red maggots under your soybean plants’ epidermis? We have answers.

In 2015, we received plant samples of soybean that had small red maggots under the epidermis. Now, in 2017, we are starting to receive reports of these same insects being found under the epidermis of soybean in different parts of South Dakota.

a black weevil with red to brown legs and antennae

Root Weevils & Imported Longhorned Weevils Finding Their Way Inside

We have been receiving reports of small, black insects that are observed crawling up bathroom walls, hanging out in basements, or otherwise finding their way inside.

grey to brown fly with large eyes and elongated mouthparts

What are Those Gigantic Flies?

As we progress later into the summer, we commonly see an increase in horse fly activity.

A long, brown bug with a pincher-shaped tail sitting atop a green leaf.

Earwigs: The good the bad and the ugly

With the rainfall that we have been receiving in areas of Eastern South Dakota, one of our summer nuisance insect pests is starting to show up again. We have started to receive reports regarding earwigs in and around homes near Brookings, S.D.

Wheat heads with extreme white-yellow bleaching.

Wheat Stem Maggots Observed in S.D. Wheat

While scouting wheat fields throughout South Dakota, we have started noticing the presence of bleached heads scattered throughout many different fields. These discolored heads are the result of an infestation of the wheat stem maggot.