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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 Google street view of the front of the Varsity Research Building, Module 10

Big Changes Coming to the PDIC This Spring!

Two significant changes are coming to the PDIC this spring: Our lab will be moving to the Varsity Research Building (Module 10). We will be launching a new database app (replacing the current…

A black cicada with orange red eyes and orange markings and wings, rests on the smooth bark of a holly tree with the blues sky in the background.

Here They Come Again! More Periodical Cicadas Will Emerge This Spring

If you missed them last year or didn't get your fill, you'll have another chance to see periodical cicadas (Cicadidae: Magicicada) in NC this year! If you were utterly annoyed by them, hopefully you…

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 adult clover mite, Bryobia sp.

Watch Out for These (Arthropod) Spring Home Invaders

Note: This post was originally published March 2021, and updated March 2023Insects and other arthropods are feeling the warm weather and waking up for spring. Bees, social wasps, bugs, flies, ants,…

photos showing an adult carpet beetle from the top and side. You can see a small, round/oval beetle with patterns of small orange, white and black scales

NC "Spring" Signals Indoor Carpet Beetle Activity

You may be noticing numerous, small (~2-3 mm), round critters crawling along window sills lately -- I know I have been! If so, they are likely carpet beetles (Dermestidae: Anthrenus sp.).The ones…

Various molds and yeasts growing on culture media

PDIC Discontinuing Household Mold Identification Service

Beginning January 17th, 2023, the NC State Plant Disease and Insect Clinic (PDIC) will no longer be providing identification services for molds found in homes and other buildings. We understand this…

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…