Asian Longhorned Tick - A New Invasive Species

There is a new invasive species in New Jersey: the longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis).  The longhorned tick is a member of the family Ixodidae which means that it is a hard tick.  Hard ticks have three distinct life stages.  Depending on the temperature, the tick's eggs usually hatch between 60-90 days.  When the larva emerge from the eggs they have three sets of legs.  After having a blood meal they molt and become nymphs and acquire four sets of legs.  Nymphs feed for approximately 7 days and detach.  The nymph then spends about 40 days living under the vegetation before molting and becoming an adult which also has four sets of legs.

Larva (Source: lucidcentral.org)

Nymph (Source: lucidcentral.org)

Male (Source: lucidcentral.org)

The longhorned tick finds a host using a behavior called "questing".  A questing tick crawls up the stems of grass or perches on the edge of leaves.  When the tick detects a host it uses its extended front legs to attach itself to the host.

Questing Tick
Credit: Graham J. Hickling, The University of Tennessee. Public domain.

After having fed on a host for about seven days, the female detaches itself and begins searching for a suitable place to lay eggs.  Within 1-2 weeks the female tick will lay around 2,000 eggs during a 2-3 week period.  Because the longhorned tick is a parthenogenesis species, it can reproduce asexually.  The female does not require a male tick to reproduce.

While the longhorned tick is new to New Jersey it has been a pest in New Zealand for decades. In New Zealand the tick has been found on the following animals.

Mammals

• Brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula),
• Cat (Felis domesticus),
• Cattle (Bos taurus),
• Dog (Canis familiaris),
• Donkey (Equus asinus),
• Goat (Capra hircus),
• Horse (Equus caballus),
• House mouse (Mus musculus),
• Pig (Sus scrofa),
• Rabbit (Lepus cuniculus),
• Sheep (Ovis aries)

Birds

• Dosmestic duck (Anas boscas var),
• Domestic fowl (Gallus gallus),
• House sparrow (Passer domesticus),
• Kiwi, Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus),
• Skylark (Alauda arvensis),
• Thrush (Turdus philomelus),
• Turkey (Meleagris gallipavo)

Prevention
Most tick bites can be prevented.   Some of the simple things you can do to prevent exposure to ticks are:

• Avoid areas bushy and grassy areas where ticks normally live.
• Wear light colored clothing which makes it easier to identify ticks.
• Wear clothing and boots that have been treated products containing 0.5% permethrin.
• Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered insect repellants.
• Walk in the center of trails.
• Check you clothing and body for ticks after you have been outside.
• Shower soon after you have been outdoors.

Tick Removal
Removing a tick isn't difficult.  Here are the simple steps for removing a tick:

1. Use a pointed tick removal tweezer
2. Disinfect the area with rubbing alcohol
3. Grab tick close to skin and use slow, steady motion to pull tick out
4. Disinfect the area again
5. Consider Tick Testing for infection

Here is a short video that demonstrates the proper method for removing a tick.



Identification
If you find a tick you can bring it to the Rutgers Cooperative Extension office located at 2 Academy Dr, Westampton, NJ 08060 for identification. Ticks should be placed in a sealed plastic bag or a container with a small piece of moist paper towel to prevent dehydration.



Additional Information

Tick Bites Prevention - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

How to Recognize a Longhorned Tick - Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University

Tick Biology - UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology

TickEncounter Resource Center - University of Rhode Island

Zoogeography of the New Zealand Tick Fauna - University of Wellington, New Zealand

Recent Rutgers Adivisories and News

IPM Update

Fruit IPM for July, 27, 2018
 
Spotted Lanternfly in New Jersey

Rutgers Led "Tick Blitz" Finds Exotic Longhorned Ticks and Aggressive Lone Star Tick in New Locations Across New Jersey

Spiderwort

The genus name honors John Tradescant (1570-1638) and his son John Tradescant (1608-1662), botanists and successive gardeners to Charles I of England.

Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) is native wildflower.  A herbaceous plant that grows up to three feet tall.  Noted for its three-petaled violet-blue flowers with six contrasting yellow stamens which grow in terminal clusters.  The flowers open a few at a time and for only one day.  The root system is thick, fleshy, and fibrous, sending off occasional offshoots nearby. Spidewort thrives in thickets, meadows, roadsides and woodland borders.


While the flowers are beautiful, spiderwort can take over a flower bed.  Spiderwort is difficult control because of its large root crown which provides energy for regrowth.  In small areas and hand removal is the best method of control.

Tradescantia virginiana

Additional Information

Tradescantia virginiana - Missouri Botanical Garden

Virginia Spiderwort -USDA Nation Resources Conservation Service

The Collectors: Tradescants

Spiderwort spreading and could become a hay field pest - University of Florida

New Pest on the Rise - Spotted Lanterfly

The Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White) is neither fly nor a month. The Spotted Lanternfly is a native insect of China, India and Vietnam and an invasive planthopper.  At first, the spotted lanterfly had only been found in Berks County, Pennsylvania.  Recently, individuals have been found in Virginia, New York and Delaware.

The spotted lanternfly has been reported from over 70 species of plants, including the following:

• Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) (preferred host)
• Apple (Malus spp.)
• Plum, cherry, peach, apricot (Prunus spp.)
• Grape (Vitis spp.)
• Pine (Pinus spp.) 

Adults are 1 inch long and ½ inch wide at rest. The forewing is gray with black spots of varying sizes and the wing tips have black spots outlined in gray. Hind wings have contrasting patches of red and black with a white band. The legs and head are black, and the abdomen is yellow with black bands. Early immature stages are black with white spots. By the last immature stage they develop red patches in addition to the black color with white spots. This is the last immature stage before they mature into an adult.  Immature insect and adults are visually striking when the bright red of the hind wings is exposed.

Photo courtesy of Lawrence Beringer, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Adult Spotted Lanternfly (bugwood.org)

Adults feed by puncturing the plant tissue to feed on sap.  The feeding damage can cause sap to run down the surface of the plant and encourages the growth of sooty mold which leaves dark streaks on the trunks of trees.

If you think you have seen or collected a Spotted Lanternfly please report it to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the Department of Entomology at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences by emailing slanternfly@njaes.rutgers.edu.

Additional Information

Spotted Lanterfly - New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station

Spotted Lanterfly - Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Tree of Heaven - Invasive Exotic Plants of the Southeast - NC State University

Gardening questions? Call 609-265-5050

Winter Weeds Part 1- Annual Bluegrass

Annual bluegrass (Poa annua) is one of the most common winter weeds in the United States.  It looks similar to Kentucky bluegrass, but is a lighter shade of green and has shallower roots.  When the weather get warm, it dies off, leaving brown patches in the affected area. 

Affected Area

Keys to Identification

• Annual bluegrass grows 2 to 8 inches tall when unmowed.
• It is tolerant of mowing heights typical for home lawns.
• The grass has a lighter green color (sometimes described as “apple green”) than other cool-season turfgrasses.
• Annual bluegrass has flattened sheaths that are bent at the base and often rooted at the lower sheath joint.
• Mature leaf blades are often rippled part way down and vary from 1 to 3 inches in length.
• Leaf blades end with boat-shaped leaf tips.
• The inflorescence (flowering structure) is a terminal panicle that varies from 1⁄2 to 4 inches in length.
• The majority of annual bluegrass seedheads are formed in spring (April to June).

Annual bluegrass seed heads.
Millie Davenport, © 2010, HGIC, Clemson Extension

Ripples on leaf.
UMassAmhurst Extension Program

Control
In small landscape beds, annual bluegrass can be hand dug or controlled with an herbicide.  It is best to prevent the spread of annual bluegrass by maintaining optimum cultural conditions and using a 3-inch mulch layer to block weed development. Once annual bluegrass has made its way into a landscape bed, an herbicide may be necessary if hand pulling or hoeing is not practical.


Whenever using pesticides, always read and follow labeled directions or have pesticides professionally applied by a licensed pesticide applicator.

Additional Information

Annual Bluegrass - University of California - IPM

Annual and Roughstalk Bluegrass Management for New Jersey Home Lawns - Rutgers University

Which is it, Annual Bluegrass or Kentucky Bluegrass? - Purdue University

Poa L. - USDA Information

Turfgrass Morphology - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign