MAGNOLIA SCALE CRAWLS.

Joe Boggs reported that the reddish-brown first instar nymphs (= crawlers) of MAGNOLIA SCALE (Neolecanium cornuparvum) are becoming numerous enough to be easy to spot on the stems of infested host trees in southwest Ohio. This is one of the largest "soft scales" in the state with mature females measuring as much as 1/2" in diameter. The helmet-shaped females are brownish-purple and can be found attached to the twigs, branches, and main stems of their namesake host as well as tuliptree. The scale uses its sucking mouthparts to extract sap from phloem vessels. Heavy infestations can kill branches, or even entire trees, or produce enough physiological stress to make trees susceptible to succumbing to other problems.

Magnolia scale is also notorious for exuding copious quantities of "honeydew." The sticky honeydew may drip onto the leaves and stems of the host plant as well as plants beneath an infested tree, or onto sidewalks, cars, slow-moving gardeners, etc. Honeydew is often colonized by black sooty molds and while the molds do not harm plants, the sticky goo combined with the molds can produce an unsightly mess. Of course, the occurrence of honeydew and sooty molds do not necessarily mean soft scales are afoot. Many other sucking insects (aphids, planthoppers, etc.) also exude honeydew.

Magnolia scale eggs remain inside the female's body until the eggs hatch which gives the appearance that the females are "giving birth" to live young. Egg hatch may occur continuously from early August into early October. This

Travelers in Ohio may be treated to the beautiful early morning view of dew-covered orbweaver webs shimmering in fields along roadways. The round ("orb") webs consist of radiating spokes of non-sticky silk overlaid with a spiraling thread of sticky silk. Three of the more common orbweaver spiders (Family Araneidae) currently on display in Ohio are the large BLACK-AND-YELLOW ARGIOPE (Argiope aurantia), the tiny TRASHLINE SPIDER (Cyclosa turbinate), and the medium-sized BARN SPIDER (Araneus cavaticus).

The black-and-yellow Argiope is one of the largest orbweavers found in Ohio; females often measure over to 2" from the tips of their legs. The spider sports black legs, a yellowish-silver cephalothorax, and a black abdomen with intricate bright yellow to golden-yellow markings. Their markings and web locations engender a number of monikers including: yellow garden Argiope, yellow Argiope, golden orbweaver, yellow garden orbweaver, and golden garden spider. The spider produces a vertical structure of dense, coarse silk at the center of its web known as a "stabilimentum," and the zigzag pattern of the stabilimentum gives rise to the names "zigzag spider," and "writing spider." Webs are often built at "face height" leading to close, entangling encounters with this spider inducing more colorful names spun together with expletives.

Entomologists were once puzzled as to how such a large, brightly colored spider hanging in the center of its web in the middle of the day could be so successful in capturing insects in their web. It would be like sheep running to wolves. The answer rests with understanding insect vision. Insects are capable of seeing ultraviolet light in wavelengths that are invisible to humans, and certain flowers that appear white to people actually reflect intricate patterns of ultraviolet light, presumably to attract insects. Research has shown that when Argiope spiders and their webs are viewed under ultraviolet light; the spider disappears, the web disappears, but the zigzag stabilimentum blazes like a giant neon "eat here" sign. Insects are lured to their doom thinking they are visiting the mother of all flowers!

Trashline spiders are relatively small measuring around 1/4-1/2" from the tips of their legs. Their legs, cephalothorax, and abdomen are covered with mottled black and white markings. These spiders also construct a vertical stabilimentum of coarse silk in the center of their webs. A close examination of the stabilimentum will reveal that the silk enshrouds the drained bodies of previous victims; the morbid structure is responsible for the "trashline" common name. The spiders rest in the middle of their trashline and their mottled coloration makes them very difficult to see among their similarly sized and colored bundles of trash. Indeed, research has shown that the trash bundles serve to confuse predators, such as birds and wasps, intent on making a meal of the spider, and the greater the number of bundles, the greater the confusion.

Barn spiders are medium-sized round spiders measuring 1/2-3/4" from the tips of their legs. The top of the abdomen as well as their legs and cephalothorax are covered with mottled light brown to black markings. The spiders have a very distinct marking on the underside of their abdomen that is pitch-black with two yellowish-white marks along the edge of the black background. Barn spiders are nocturnal. They construct their orb webs each evening, and then they consume their webs in the morning. This spider is often encountered in doorways in the morning, hanging where there was no spider the day before.