Polygonia interrogationis on hops

Among the many pests we discovered in our hop yard this year was the Question Mark Butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis). As late instar larvae they managed to completely defoliate an entire plant!

Of course since we are entomologists we saved the larvae in the lab to rear them into adults. The larvae are dark with bright yellow spikes

Herbert A. 'Joe' Pase III, Bugwood.org

The pupae are brown except for silver spots which can vary in size, but there are usually eight of them. They attach themselves to leaves with silk and hang there until adults emerge

Herbert A. 'Joe' Pase III, Bugwood.org

On the adult, the upperside of the forewing is red-orange with black spots. The underside is light brown and a pearly white question mark in center is often located in the center of the hindwing.

If this pest becomes a serious problem applications of Bt will control them. Please read and follow any pesticide label carefully.

Wooster Hops Production Field Day

Our Hops Production Field Day was featured by Farm and Dairy: Hops Article

Earlier this month we had a successful field day with about 80 participants! The excitement surrounding hop production in Ohio is growing and our job is to help growers obtain the knowledge needed to produce hops.

Emerging from the field!

You might have noticed a lack of posts recently! Here at the ALE lab we have been busy collecting data and samples from the field, driving miles and miles, planning and conducting field days, trying to avoid bee stings, and maintaining our sanity!

We have tons of great information to share with you from the summer which will trickle out in the form of various blog posts. For now we will leave you with some pictures highlighting our summer activities.

We held two workshops for the Buckeye Lady Beetle Blitz Program (BLBB)

Scott started some exciting experiments which involved tracking the movements of bumble bees.

Our hops grew tall...

...and we had a larger yield than expected!

Andrea's first field season was a success.

Our undergraduate intern, Denisha, conducted her project in Cleveland

We had a great canoe trip with the Herms lab.

We had 80 people attend our Hops Production Field Day in Wooster!