News Stories - Page 16

Most people try to swat them away, but Jena Johnson welcomes the beauty in the wings of a mosquito. Johnson, a lab manager in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ entomology department, fell in love with the study of insects during her junior year of college at Nicholls State University.

As of Sept. 21, an invasive and dangerous pest, the Asian longhorned tick, has been confirmed in north Georgia. Experts are warning livestock producers and the public to be on the lookout, as the ticks can kill an animal by attaching to a host by the hundreds.

The use of cover crops has risen among both traditional and organic producers for a variety of reasons — to control erosion, choke out weeds, improve soil health and enhance water availability. Now research by University of Georgia scientists is examining which cover crops also may provide important habitat for predatory insects that could help control disease- and damage-causing pests in cotton.

Millions of palm-sized Joro spiders have suspended themselves in three-dimensional golden webs on porches, power lines and mailboxes in roughly 25 counties in the state — and counting. Although their numbers are a nuisance, the spiders are not considered a particularly harmful invasive species.

An impressive team of University of Georgia researchers has received $765,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Crop Protection and Pest Management Program to support the continuation of integrated pest management (IPM) programming throughout the state over the next three years.

Georgia and South Carolina share a border, a passion for football and pride in their peaches. With the University of Georgia and Clemson University campuses separated by a mere 70 miles, the Bulldogs and Tigers began fighting it out on the football field in 1897, with the teams set to meet for the 65th time on Sept. 4. As pitched as the battle is on the football field, there’s an even deeper rivalry between the two states when it comes to their peaches.