The elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda, SLF) is one of the latest non-native species to take hold in the U.S. It was first found in Virginia in 2021, and active infestations are now established in Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. EZS has not been detected in South Carolina, but it is an insect for which we need to be on the lookout.
EZS has 2 generations per year in North Carolina and will likely have at least that many in South Carolina when and if it arrives here. EZS overwinter as pupae and adults emerge in spring to mate and lay eggs. Larvae (Fig. 1) feed exclusively on elm (Ulmus spp.) leaves, first creating distinct wavy feeding patterns before consuming nearly all the foliage on a leaf (Fig. 2). Adults resemble small, black flies. In North Carolina, larvae are present right now!
EZS feeds on elm trees, including our native slippery elm, winged elm, and American elm, as well as English elm, Siberian elm, Chinese elm, and hybrids. EZS will feed on elms in both natural and managed areas. To be clear, we have NOT documented this pest in South Carolina yet, but we are asking everyone to please be on the lookout for this elm-eating pest.
More information on the elm zigzag sawfly can be found on this Clemson Extension fact sheet: https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/elm-zigzag-sawfly/. If you think you have found an elm zigzag sawfly, please contact the Clemson Department of Plant Industry at [email protected] or by calling 864-646-2140.
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Growing onions is a popular task for millions of gardeners and knowing when to harvest red onions – along with yellow and white varieties – is important for success. If you harvest onions too early, it means a limited storage life. But, harvesting too late could mean a split or rotten bulb. In this article, I’m going to review two perfect times for harvesting red onions. One is ideal for fresh use and the other is best for optimizing storage life.
Hailing from South Africa, agapanthus can be evergreen or deciduous; the deciduous varieties are the most hardy in this country. The evergreen varieties grow in the southern Cape in milder areas, so will need frost protection in the UK – or they can be grown in pots and brought inside.
Header image: Suited up to simulate the conditions of working outside on Mars. Jonathan Clarke (the author, left) with visiting engineer Michael Curtis-Rouse, from UK Space Agency (right). Jonathan Clarke personal collection, Author provided.
Just over a year ago, when we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, I talked about the lack of diversity in space and mentioned Mary Jackson. In 2016, the movie Hidden Figures shared the stories of Mary Jackson and two other Black female mathematicians – Katherine Johnson and, Dorothy Vaughan. They worked at NASA when a ‘computer’ still meant a person carrying out mathematical calculations. The film is based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly, which I am reading at the moment. The book offers a more detailed and accurate account of the prejudice these women (and others) had to overcome.
In Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, Kate Greene talks about Shannon Lucid, the NASA astronaut who spent six months living on the Russian space station Mir. Shannon, it turns out, was a bookworm. During her stay, she read 50 books and improvised shelving from old food boxes, complete with straps to stop the books floating off. This was in 1996, a good decade before the invention of the Kindle, and so these were real books. She apparently chose titles with the highest word to mass ratio, since launch weight is a critical factor! Lucid left her library behind for future spacefarers, but it burned up when Mir was de-orbited in 2001.
2017 is the 100th anniversary of the start of the Cottingley fairies story, a hoax which entrances the UK to this day. Cousins Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright faked photos of fairies at the bottom of the garden, intended to be a practical joke on their grown-ups. When Elsie’s mother showed the photos to the local Theosophical Society, she set in motion a chain of events that led Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to declare the photographs to be authentic. He wrote an article on fairy life for The Strand magazine in November 1920, and fairy fever gripped the nation. Conan Doyle later wrote a book on the subject, The Coming of the Fairies – The Cottingley Incident.
In March 2020, young people across the UK will gather in Birmingham for The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair – a celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The event is free to attend, and you can register now if you want to go.
What kind of traveller are you? Do you prefer to lie in a hammock slung between two palm trees, reading the latest blockbuster novel? Or would I find you soaking up the local culture along with the sun? I’m more of the latter, and it helps to know a smattering of the local language if you go off the beaten track!
Last summer, Ryan and I popped on our face masks, slathered our hands in sanitiser and braved a trip to pandemic-era Ikea. There were a few things we needed, and I wanted to stock up on consumables for my Hydroponicum.
Continuing my research into which of NASA’s African American astronauts are space gardeners, I turned my attention to the second name on the (alphabetical) list: Guion Stewart Bluford Jr.