Millipedes normally live outdoors but may become nuisance pests indoors by their presence. At certain times of the year (usually late summer and autumn) due to excessive rainfall or even drought, a few or hundreds or more leave the soil and crawl into houses, basements, first-floor rooms, up foundation walls, into living rooms, up side walls, and drop from the ceilings. Some homeowners as early as late June have reported annoying populations accumulating in swimming pools.
Fungus beetles is a general term covering several different beetles associated with damp, humid conditions where fungi, molds, and mildew occur. When new homes are built, moist uncured lumber and/or freshly plastered or papered walls that become covered with molds attract these beetles. Some occur in sawdust left in wall voids after construction. They often build heavy populations throughout late summer and early fall.
Ground beetles are occasionally a nuisance indoors by their presence. Homeowners may confuse these beetles for cockroaches, carpet beetles, woodboring beetles, or some other household structural pest. Others are simply curious about these insects after finding them outdoors under stones, logs, boards, and similar places. Some beetles are attracted to lights and enter the home by crawling through small openings and cracks in windows, doors, foundations, etc. Ground beetles normally live outdoors and do not establish themselves indoors.
In most situations it is best not to eliminate ground-nesting bees and wasps since they are valuable pollinators of agricultural and landscape plants. Many are useful predators that help control harmful pests. Though the social bumble bees will defend their nests, most of these bees and wasps are solitary insects that will only sting if you try to capture them or restrain them! Nests or burrows located in areas frequented by humans may require controls in order to prevent human contact and the chance of being stung.
The common bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth), is an interesting caterpillar. The most commonly observed form of this pest is the spindle-shaped silk bag camouflaged with bits of foliage, bark, and other debris. Completed bags range from 1½ to 2½ inches long. The larva within the bag is brown or tan, mottled with black, and the bee-like adult males have clear wings and fur-covered bodies. The females remain larva-like and do not emerge from the bag. The larva may stick its head and front legs out of the top of the bag to feed and move.
During mid- to late summer and early autumn, large, unusually shaped, colorful caterpillars are often seen. These caterpillars, larvae of moths and butterflies, feed on leaves of various trees, shrubs, and other plants. The exact host plant or plants vary with each species of caterpillar. Most giant caterpillars are discovered when wandering across lawns, driveways, sidewalks, etc. These caterpillars are fully grown and they are on their way to pupation (transformation into adults) sites. They have finished eating and will cause little or no further plant damage.
Spider mites are not insects but are more closely related to spiders. These arachnids have four pairs of legs, no antennae, and a single, oval body region. Most spider mites have the ability to produce a fine silk webbing.
Hauling cargo of different sizes and weights is common practice in agriculture whether the load is being hauled down the road or across the state. While hauling your tractor, tile, or pallet of seed, the driver is responsible for making sure the load is properly secured.
Farmers are familiar with storing high-moisture forage crops as silage. Tall silos, horizontal or bunker silos, and more recently "shrink-wrapped" round bales are common examples of storing crops "wet" instead of "dry."
Farmers like biodiesel. It's a motor fuel made partly from soybeans or other vegetable oils and it reduces the demand for imported oil. But there's a nearly worthless byproduct of biodiesel production, crude glycerin, which is a financial and environmental liability for the biodiesel industry. Crude glycerin differs significantly from pure glycerin in composition due to the presence of various impurities. Crude glycerin contains 30–40% glycerin (Ooi, et al. 2001).
