BUGS! They ‘Use’ Water, Too (But How?)
Dr. Carol Sutherland Extension Entomologist, NMSU & State Entomologist, NM Dept. of Agriculture General Theme of This Whole Series: WATER • You’ve heard or read about--- • Stay hydrated, stay healthy---drink more water • What’s in---or shouldn’t be in---drinking water • Snow and rain---producing irrigation and drinking water • Wells---sources of that water, how they work • Irrigation technology • Water conservation issues • Water -wise landscapes
• But how do BUGS relate to water? Bugs & Water---All Sorts of Relationships •Bugs--- • living in water • hunting under water • being hunted under water • hunting on water • hunting for water • swarming after water arrives • conserving water---or not • avoiding water And some of these • making their own water relationships impact YOU!?! • diverting water Do You Have Any of These at Your House?
Pets? Livestock? Fish ponds? Water features? Irrigation drains? Low spots where water ‘ponds’? Mosquitoes! Living in Water
Culex egg raft-floats Culex larvae: eat algae et al. Culex pupa
Aedes: yellow fever Culex: dog heartworm, West Nile Virus, WEE, various encephalides viruses Achilles Heel for Mosquitoes = Aquatic Stages
Empty/replace pet or bird water at least weekly Drain standing water or treat it for mosquitoes
Dunks have Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis as the AI this kills aquatic fly larvae specifically
Mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) are mosquito predators, but so are other pond fish and predatory insects Other Bugs Can Be Found in Ponds, Pools & Tanks
You can get a ‘snap-shot view’ of a watery ecosystem…
Look within… Hunting under Water Dragonflies Lay eggs in still fresh water Naiads are ‘jet-propelled’ aquatic predators Adults-aerial predators
Labium = ‘grabber’ Rectum = gill chamber; used forcibly for ‘jet propulsion’ Hunting under Water
Damselflies
Adults are aerial predators of small insects Eggs laid in still fresh water Naiads slender with terminal leaf-like gills Predators----with extendible labia Hunting under Water
Abedus sp., male carrying eggs
Hydrophilidae All of these bugs---& their nymphs may occur in calm, fresh water. Notonectidae: Backswimmer All are aggressive predators of These ARE Bugs! various aquatic life---whatever they can overcome.
Belostomatidae: Giant Water Bug, Belostoma A Family Affair for Many…
Eating a snail Jaws
Hydrophilidae, Hydrophilus, Water Scavenger Beetle (left: larvae; right: adult---it can fly, too) Being Hunted under Water (by fish) Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, Megaloptera---immatures live in fresh, running water
Mayflies Caddisflies Hellgrammites Hunting ON (Calmer Fresh) Water
Gerridae: Water strider or water skipper Primarily scavengers Hunting ON (Calmer Fresh) Water
Gyrinidae: Whirligig Beetles, spinning around in tight circles (US Navy interest) Primarily scavengers as adults; larvae aquatic, predaceous, cannibalistic Hunting for Water (air conditioning the colony)
Honey bees do it---as well as collecting nectar and pollen Pogonomyrmex spp.: Workers forage for water, carrying it in their ‘beards’? Hunting for Water Subterreanean Termites!
Sub termites maintain a ‘soil connection’ -point of entry into house -access to water table, leaky pipes, irrigation water, drainage
Use gutters, downspouts & aim water away from foundation---or use rain barrels or tanks Your Bathroom---most Commonly infested by Termites? Water pipes, Humidity, condensation…. ideal for termites Hunting for Water (& Succulent Green Food)
In high population years, ‘for every ‘hopper you kill today, TWO come to the funeral tomorrow…’ Swarming After Water (i.e. Rainfall)
Guess who? (Yep, termites again) Swarming After Water (i.e. Rainfall) Guess who else? Yep, ants!
Yes, after a rain BOTH ants and termites may be Ants may swarm inside swarming from various or outside of a house sources
Determining which could Be helpful in management Flying Ants vs Flying Termites---Which is Which? Swarming Ant Swarming Termite
Elbowed Antennae antenna thread-like Forewing & hind Thick wing equal in length; ‘waist’ veins faint, numerous
Narrow ‘waist’ Forewing longer than hind wing; few but prominent veins Conserving Water Drywood Termites
These pests DO NOT need a ‘soil connection.’ Their water comes from metabolism---& they save it
Swarming reproductives
Immatures, workers
Soldiers Drywood termites (present in NM) ‘wring water out’ of their feces, making uniform, hard 6-sided pellets NOT Conserving Water---gut shunt, honeydew
Tapping the vascular system Aphid gut, shunt Honeydew on leaf Ant harvesting aphid honeydew Avoiding Water Bark beetles
Stressed pine, above; Juniper twig beetles, Tree defense against bark beetles involves moisture; too left. much moisture and beetles can be ‘sapped out.’ May attack distressed or recently Avoiding Water dead trees, woody shrubs Round headed wood borers Flat headed wood borers
Long horned beetles Metallic wood-boring beetles A by-product of their own Making Their Own Water metabolism!
Flour beetles Saw-toothed grain beetles Warehouse beetles Stored Product Pests---Beetles A by-product of their own Making Their Own Water metabolism!
Indian mealmoth Mediterranean flour moth Clothes moth Stored Product & Closet Pests---Moths Saltcedar---invasive, exotic water wasting noxious weed Saltcedar Beetles in New Mexico! SCBs---25 years of screening & testingapproval for release
Another tool to suppress this pest? Status by End of 2013 But What Replaces Saltcedar? (Nature Abhors a Vacuum…)
• Russian Olive? Another exotic • Cottonwood,willow? Best natives pest—no biocontrols now
• Baccharis? Other native shrubs? Grasses? Beats saltcedar • Saltbush, saltgrass, salt tolerant spp.? Still better better OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS… Anyone listening? So this is our Voyage tonight---BUGS as they relate to WATER Thank You! My Contact Info:
• Dr. Carol Sutherland • Extension Plant Sciences • N140 Skeen Hall, NMSU • Las Cruces, NM • [email protected]