Cold Weather and Insects

[DanW]

Jim's post about the unusually cold weather sparked some insect discussion. For us in BC it's primarily the Pine Beetles. This was taken from the BC gov website.

"Cold weather kills the mountain pine beetle. Mountain pine beetle eggs, pupae and young larvae are the most susceptible to freezing temperatures.

• In the winter, temperatures must consistently be below -35 Celsius or -40 Celsius for several straight days to kill off large portions of mountain pine beetle populations.

• In the early fall or late spring, sustained temperatures of -25 Celsius can freeze mountain pine beetle populations to death.

• A sudden cold snap is more lethal in the fall, before the mountain pine beetles are able to build up their natural anti-freeze (glycerol) levels.

• Cold weather is also more effective before it snows. A deep layer of snow on the ground can help insulate mountain pine beetles in the lower part of the tree against outside temperatures.

• Wind chill affects mountain pine beetles, but is usually not sustained long enough to significantly increase winter mortality."

Dan.

 

[Gasifier]

(broken link removed to https://sites.google.com/site/marylandlyme/press-releases/snow-ticks)

 

[goosegunner]

Thanks for that bit of depressing news in that link. I started using permethrin spray on my wood cutting clothes 2 years ago. I have always liked. Urging in the snow, will be more careful now.

Some people claim heat from the sun kills ticks. Last year I put one in a plastic bag and put that in full sun on pool deck on a 90 degree day. The cement was too hot to stand on barefoot. Brought it inside a few hours later and it started crawling in less than 5 minutes.

Gg

 

[Gasifier]

I like my other link for the EAB though. It had some promise. Some anyway. Those friggin ticks are tough little bastards. I hope I never get lyme disease. I especially hope my kids never get it. I really worry about my kids getting it. My wife has picked several ticks off the dogs over the last couple of years.

 

[KenLockett]

I like my other link for the EAB though. It had some promise. Some anyway. Those friggin ticks are tough little bastards. I hope I never get lyme disease. I especially hope my kids never get it. I really worry about my kids getting it. My wife has picked several ticks off the dogs over the last couple of years.

I had it last year Gasifier. For about a year and a half I had persistent deep pain in my thigh/hip area. Thought I had pulled something and/or I was just getting the normal aches and pains for a 47 year old. It got so bad I could barely tie my shoes and basically felt like my muscles were contracting and always sore (took a lot of hot baths, used the heat pad a lot, and ingested a lot of Ibuprofen). Difficult to sleep as well. Had a lyme test in the very beginning that came back negative. Last summer, I got bit by something on the back of my calf and it swelled like crazy. As a precaution, the doctor put me on a 30 day lyme treatment and I couldn't believe it but within 3-4 days the pain I had was gone and hasn't returned since! After that 30 day course I insisted the doctor give me 15 more days just to be sure it was dead or whatever you wanna call it. I felt like a kid with a new toy, jogging up and down the stairs, pain free. To make a long story short, I wonder how many of us out there who live in the northeast in the vicinity of woods and who are in the woods alot actually have Lyme and don't even realize it, simply chalking it up to aches and pains and aging. I did some research subsequently, and apparently Lyme Syndrome as they call it is a very complex disease and difficult to diagnose (unless very early) and actually quite misunderstood. Beware those of you like me who spend a good time of my spare time in the woods.

 

[tigger]

A buddy of mine went for a walk in the woods last weekend, comes home and finds a deer tick on him......he is now on antibiotics for Lyme disease. This was in RI.....those darn ticks can survive anything. All they need is one day of sunshine and they are out looking for someone to bite.

 

[flyingcow]

Our southern Maine ticks are creeping north, not good. Hopefully this cold slows 'em down.

 

[skfire]

g

I like my other link for the EAB though. It had some promise. Some anyway. Those friggin ticks are tough little bastards. I hope I never get lyme disease. I especially hope my kids never get it. I really worry about my kids getting it. My wife has picked several ticks off the dogs over the last couple of years.

My wife has advanced Lyme, it is a constant state of pain.
deer ticks are damn indestructible. Immersed one in pure alcohol for more than 6 hours....i just gave him a buzz....he crawled out and didn't even blink.
my shepherds get loaded with them, my goats, horses too and getting hens only mildly controls them.
mice are the main vectors...control them and they don't get to the deer.
hopefully this massive frost got to the next brood...hope.
be careful with them...
btw Lyme disease is not a single parasitic organism, there are more than a couple of dozen bacteria that can be transmitted via the bite and they all have different symptoms. My wife contacted it about 25 years ago, she remembers being sick, no Lyme diagnosis back when and now it has become chronic. Big battle, especially since we live in the forest and tick bites do have a cumulative effect..
scott