What bugs/diseases/critters have ya'll seen that weren't around 30-40 years ago?

[Jstpssng]

Cool! "Trust but verify"...

We have a couple of plants near here that are in the "was last seen in 1870..." bin. The scientists and us are the only ones who know.

In my experience generally accepted maps can be way off, for both flora and fauna. Over the years, I've found species that were way outside of their normal ranges, when taken to experts. I think my record is over two thousand miles for a spider that can barely crawl, and that one ended up in a scientific collection.

All the best,

Peter

There's a prep school across the road from the orchard I worked at. For years, students were picking boquets of wildflowers for parent's day.
One year a student's parent was a biologist, and recognised the flowers as something which was only known to exist one place in the country.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

There are coyotes in Florida now. Science tells us they walked across the Mississippi during a cold snap, but that's a lie. There have been cold snaps since the beginning of time, the Mississippi froze countless times, and the coyotes stayed out west.

The pythons are a big problem, and it will get worse. This state is perfect for them. They will end up as far north as Tennessee. They are able to withstand the cold pretty well.

We have nearly lost citrus because a bug was introduced and brought a disease. Citrus is going to be gone soon, except as an expensive luxury, barring an unexpected development. Bananas are in danger. Evergreens are dying in Appalachia because of foreign bugs.

I used to think I had never seen fire ants, but that was because I didn't know what they were. Based on things hysterical journalists said, I thought they were terrifying, exotic insects that caused people excruciating pain. In reality, they were just the plain old red ants I had seen all my life, and the stings weren't particularly painful.

 

[paulsharvey]

There are coyotes in Florida now. Science tells us they walked across the Mississippi during a cold snap, but that's a lie. There have been cold snaps since the beginning of time, the Mississippi froze countless times, and the coyotes stayed out west.

The pythons are a big problem, and it will get worse. This state is perfect for them. They will end up as far north as Tennessee. They are able to withstand the cold pretty well.

We have nearly lost citrus because a bug was introduced and brought a disease. Citrus is going to be gone soon, except as an expensive luxury, barring an unexpected development. Bananas are in danger. Evergreens are dying in Appalachia because of foreign bugs.

I used to think I had never seen fire ants, but that was because I didn't know what they were. Based on things hysterical journalists said, I thought they were terrifying, exotic insects that caused people excruciating pain. In reality, they were just the plain old red ants I had seen all my life, and the stings weren't particularly painful.

The citrus thing; im surprised there isn't more talk, the industry is likely to be completely dead in FL in 10 years.

 

[lman]

The citrus thing; im surprised there isn't more talk, the industry is likely to be completely dead in FL in 10 years.View attachment 4080420

With the global warming, citrus will be growing in NC.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

It's amazing no one talks about the citrus plague. Citrus is finished, not just in Florida, but around the world.

I had wonderful citrus trees in Coral Gables. They started producing malformed, useless fruit. I moved to North Central Florida, into a house with three trees. They already had greening when I got there, so I cut them.

To my south, there used to be hundreds of thousands of acres of citrus. You could see them from the turnpike. Now there is bare dirt which is being covered with thousands and thousands of tract homes.

 

[ponytug]

Around here, citrus greening and psyllids get a fair amount of air time, more than triatomine bugs (Chagas), but less than Lyme disease or West Nile virus or Mediterranean fruit flies.

All the best, Peter

 

[paulsharvey]

With the global warming, citrus will be growing in NC.

You know, Citrus is one reason I dont really believe in the warming. Noone would grow Citrus around me; but im near Orange Heights, Orange Springs, and im south of Orange Park. Those arent just names, they used to grow Citrus just south of Jacksonville; 125 years ago; no way you could now; just too cold...

 

[Tinhack]

I used to think I had never seen fire ants, but that was because I didn't know what they were. Based on things hysterical journalists said, I thought they were terrifying, exotic insects that caused people excruciating pain. In reality, they were just the plain old red ants I had seen all my life, and the stings weren't particularly painful.

Then they aren't Fire Ants. At least not like here. The name is true to fact. The sting is extremely painful and will leave a welt. And they don't attack one at a time. Hundreds will crawl up your leg and seemingly on signal, will sting all at once. They are known to kill small animals.

On a side note, we don't have as many as we used to. In fact, I haven't seen any since we were invaded by the Crazy Ants 3-4 years ago. Even those are gone now. All we have is Giant Red Ants. The solders are about 3/8-7/16" long. The workers are about 1/4" long. They forage for cut grass and carry it back to the nest. All have very painful stings and have huge mandibles to hang on while they sting.

Last year, we had killer bees. I think they were just passing through. We didn't have much water(rain) and nothing was growing. I haven't seen any this year.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Then they aren't Fire Ants. At least not like here. The name is true to fact. The sting is extremely painful and will leave a welt. And they don't attack one at a time. Hundreds will crawl up your leg and seemingly on signal, will sting all at once. They are known to kill small animals.

That is pretty much what I am used to. They sting, it hurts a little, and the next day you might get tiny pus-filled blisters. I never thought they were a big deal when I was a kid, and I still don't. If I start feeling stings, I move a few feet away, swat off any ants I can get at, and get on with my day.

I remember seeing a neighbor kid start crying for no reason. This was in Tampa, back during the LBJ years. I finally realized he was standing on an enormous ant mound. I don't know why he screamed instead of running away immediately.

Where I live, scorpions are a problem. They come into my house. I have been stung twice in 8 years. Really smarts. Like a whole bunch of fire ants stinging in one place. One stung me in the shower. It had climbed into a washcloth, and when I reached for it to scrub myself, I got nailed.

My personal hierarchy of pain goes like this: red ant, wasp, bee, scorpion. Scorpion stings feel like red-hot needles.

 

[Tinhack]

My personal hierarchy of pain goes like this: red ant, wasp, bee, scorpion. Scorpion stings feel like red-hot needles.

Yep, we have scorpions too. They like wood around here. I had some equipment crate panels stacked up against a tree. I went to move them and they were covered in scorpions between the sheets.

Edit: Oh yeah, Rattlesnakes like wood too.