Filtering by tag: Animal Agriculture ✕

Two red poinsettia plants sitting on a metal surface, seen from above.

Clinic Holiday Closings (Late 2025 - Early 2026)

The PDIC will be closed during the following dates for the late 2025 - early 2026 holidays: Thanksgiving break: The lab will be closed Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 27th) and the day after…

a large brown aphid among Christmas tree needles

2024-25 Clinic Holiday Schedule

As the holiday season approaches, the PDIC will be following scheduled closures based on the university holiday calendar.For Thanksgiving, we will be open through Wednesday, November 17th. The clinic…

A wasp sitting on lichen-covered bark. It is mostly dark with some yellow markings

Yellow-Legged Hornet Found in Georgia

As if we needed another large wasp to strike fear in residents of the US, the state of Georgia is reporting the detection of a single specimen of the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) near the…

An image of a reddish-brown tick, the deer or blacklegged tick, on a white background

What's That Tick? New Identification Guide to Species in North Carolina Can Help

As outdoor season begins to ramp up, one unfortunate side effect is more encounters with ticks. These blood-sucking arthropods seek out humans and other animals on which to feed. Several species are…

A heavy-bodied, black spider with shiny legs.

Local Spiders Confused for Deadly Relatives

I've been getting a few emails and calls about large, menacing-looking black spiders that are often confused for exotic, and sometimes deadly, Australian Sydney funnel-web spiders (Atrax robustus).…

A nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira) resting on a tree branch in the sun

Late Spring Spiders Common but Not Dangerous

We've been getting a lot of inquiries about spiders hanging around and coming inside homes lately. Some have been mistaken for brown recluses (Loxosceles reclusa) despite this species being extremely…

A bee in the genus Andrena poking its head out of a tunnel it made in the lawn of an urban yard.

It's the Season for Busy Ground-Nesting Bees!

As the weather warms up, insects and other animals are becoming more active. I wrote the other day about social wasps waking up, but here I'd like to talk about another close relative you may see in…

A large, red and yellow European hornet waits on the side of a tree.

Wasp Queens Waking Up After Winter Slumber

It's feeling a lot like spring out there! As the warm weather bring feelings of joy from longer days and more time outside, it also means that insects and other arthropods are waking up and becoming…

Redbud leaves with leaf spots and chewed area from redbud leaftier caterpillar.

Plant Disease and Insect Clinic to Resume Normal Operations

We are excited to announce the NC State Plant Disease and Insect Clinic (PDIC) will be returning to normal operations beginning July 12th!Beginning that date we will be able to: receive clients at…

A brown millipede, the greenhouse millipede

Heavy Rains Bring Masses of Millipedes

Recent heavy rains across the state have resulted in invasions of yards and homes by what some might call "worms," but are in fact arthropods called millipedes. These many-legged creatures are…