The following are highlights and updates about samples and questions received in the Clinic during the past two weeks:

Insects

• Earwigs continue to be a common concern for many Iowans.  Earwigs get into homes accidentally and also feed on garden plants.  For more information on earwigs please see this Yard & Garden Column.
• It also seems to be a good year for larder beetles.  Homeowners continue to find the larvae all over the house.  Larder beetle larvae feed on items of animal origin, so they can be a pest in dried meats, leather, dried milk, etc.  However, most are probably feeding on dead insects within the walls of the house.  Unfortunatly there is no way to control them in that protected location.  The larvae are about 1/4 of an inch, brown, fuzzy, and have two backward curving spines on the tip of their abdomen.

Diseases

• Hosta anthracnose
• Fusarium crown, stem and fruit rot of cucurbits (seen on zucchini, squash and pumpkin)
• Corn eyespot