Red Thread Info Page

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European Crane Flies

European Crane Flies

  

Yet another exotic insect has come along to plague us.  Those large “mosquito-like” insects that cluster on your porch in late summer especially in the evenings when the light is on are crane flies.  Don’t panic, they don’t bite. 

 

There are thousands of native species of crane flies that feed on decaying vegetable matter and live near water.  Only a few species have adapted to drier environments and feed on grass roots and foliage.  Two of these, Tipula paludosa (European crane fly) and its relative T. oleracea (common crane fly) are emigrants from Europe that have made their way here through port cities in the northeast and northwest.  Populations are firmly established on both coasts and in Ontario, and now in Michigan.

 There are some significant differences in these very similar looking pests.  Oleracea has longer wings and is a better flier while paludosa has short wings and doesn’t so much fly as hop from spot to spot.  Each female lays about 200 eggs.  Oleracea can complete two generations per year as opposed to one for the paludosa.  One might imagine that the oleracea would be the most serious pest, but as they disperse farther, they don’t build up the populations as quickly as do the poorer flyers. 

European Crane Fly larvae feed on the roots and on damp warm nights they will move to the surface to eat the blades of the grass plant.  Damage to turf looks a lot like white grub damage but a bit of digging will reveal a grayish larvae that has no legs as it is a maggot instead of a grub. Healthy lawns will tolerate lesser numbers without significant dieback.  Fall treatments are considered ideal as most of the feeding is done at that time by the smaller and more controllable European Crane Fly larvae.

  

The 3^rd instar European Crane Fly larvae burrow deeper to escape the winter chill, but may do some feeding during mild winters before rising back up in spring to resume feeding before pupating. In June, the European Crane Fly pupae wriggles to the surface and the adult European crane fly emerges leaving the tough pupal casing behind either sticking up out of the ground in short mowed grass or on the tops of blades in taller grasses.

If you see European Crane Flies or have any questions about how to control them please visit www.owenlawncare.com or call us at (800)-724-6680 to have one of our lawn specialists come out and answer any of your questions or concerns. Thank you!

Relative toxicity Sheets

We just put together a new relative toxicity sheet for use by our applicators. Some of it was surprising!

Relative Toxicity
Chemical Name	LD/50
Abamectin	11 mg/kg
Nicotine (average of 1mg per Cigarette)	50 mg/kg
Caffeine	192 mg/kg
Aspirin	200 mg/kg
Greyhound	300 mg/kg
Ammonia	350 mg/kg
Alcohol (average of 17.75 mL per beer)	400 mL/L
Bifenthrin I/T 7.9F	> 500 mg/kg
ACE-jet	688 mg/kg.
Sevin SL	699 mg/kg
Muriatic Acid	900 mg/kg
Tempo SC	960 mg/kg
Orthene	1447 mg/kg
IMA-jet	>1600 mg/kg
Cambistat	> 2,000 mg/kg
Myclobutanil 20 E/W T&O	> 2,000 mg/kg
Safari 20 SG	> 2,000 mg/kg
Vintage SC	> 2,000 mg/kg
Imidacloprid 75 WSB	2,591 mg/kg
Tylenol	2680 mg/kg
Table Salt	3,000 mg/kg
Propiconazole 14.3	> 3,000 mg/Kg
Tree-age	3129 mg/kg
Vinegar	3310 mg/kg
Permethrin SFR	3600 mg/kg
Shepherd	4,340 mg/kg
Alamo	4340 mg/kg
Conserve SC	> 5,000 mg/kg
Floramite SC	> 5,000 mg/kg
Pentathlon LF	> 5,000 mg/kg
Damoil	> 5,000 mg/kg
Arbortect 20-S	>5,000 mg/kg
Bleach	5800 mg/kg

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Eight Steps to a Healthier Greener Lawn

Come see our video post Eight Steps to a Healthier Greener Lawn at http://youtu.be/7NsnIZ-9CMw . If you have any questions about how you can sign up for our program please visit www.owenlawncare.com or www.owentree.com . Thank you!

Mow high for weed and grub control

Mow at the highest setting on your lawnmower to promote deep roots, avoid grub damage and crowd out weeds.

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Dave Smitley, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology

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Michigan has a tradition of mowing lawns short. Perhaps it is because many people want their lawn to look like a golf course fairway. Unfortunately, this is not practical for the average homeowner because golf course fairways are mowed three times per week with a frequently-sharpened reel mower, and irrigated daily during the summer. Trying to mow your lawn at a height less than 3 inches is actually stressful to your lawn and may result in the need to apply more insecticide and herbicide.

Raising the mowing height makes a more dense turf that
out-competes weeds. Photo credit: Rebecca Finneran, MSUE

What height do you mow at?

It’s easy to determine the true cutting height of your mower. Pull your mower onto your driveway or sidewalk and measure the distance from the cement surface to the bottom of the blade-protection covering that goes all the way around the path of the blades. Most lawn mowers have an adjustment that allows the mowing height to be set between 2 and 4 inches.

What mowing height is best for my lawn?

The highest setting on your mower! The top setting for most mowers gives a cutting height between 3.25 and 4 inches. This is best for your lawn, but at a setting of 4 inches you may sometimes see some “laying-over” of turf blades that some people find undesirable. For this reason, some people prefer to mow at 3 or 3.5 inches. For the healthiest and most sustainable approach, Michigan State University Extension says 3.5 to 4 inches is most desirable.

Lawns mowed at 3.5 or 4 inches out-compete weeds, tolerate
grubs and look just as good as lawns mowed at 2.5 inches.

Why is mowing high good for my lawn?

Mowing high provides five valuable services:

• It makes scalping (turf damage from mowing too short) much less likely to happen.
• It allows you to clip about 30 percent of the leaf blade each time you mow (the optimum proportion).
• It promotes establishment of a larger root system, which is more drought tolerant.
• It provides broadleaf weed and crabgrass control by shading the soil surface.
• It establishes a grub-tolerant lawn because of the larger root mass.

The weed and grub control provided by mowing high means you can use less pesticide on your lawn. In fact, if you combine mowing high with modest applications of fertilizer (1 to 4 lbs N per year, depending on how green you want your lawn), and watering during dry periods, you may not need to use any pesticides – herbicide for weeds or insecticide for grubs – on your lawn. If you have not been mowing high and watering during dry periods, you may need to do this for at least one year to establish a healthy lawn before you stop using pesticides.

Starting from the “ground up,” MSU Extension’s horticulture educators are embarking on a new campaign to help folks become “smart gardeners.” Launching this effort, MSU Extension horticulture educators will be presenting smart gardening in a variety of ways at two public shows in Michigan. The Novi Cottage and Lakefront Living Show on Feb. 21-24, and the West Michigan Home and Garden Show on Feb. 28-March 3 will host a variety of free seminars, informational booths and be the site to “ask the experts” from MSU Extension about your gardening questions.

For more information on a wide variety of smart gardening articles, or to find out about smart gardening classes and events, visit www.migarden.msu.edu.

Dr. Smitley’s work is funded in part by MSU‘s AgBioResearch.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

Come see our new Lawn Info Center at our webpage at www.owenlawncare.com . Tell us what you think and please send more ideas of some topics to add. Thank you!