Re: June bugs
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: June bugs
- From: b*@tiger.hsc.edu (Bill Shear)
- Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 11:03:18 -0700 (MST)
The fuss is that what's eating your iris rhizomes are not what the majority
of us understand to be "June Bugs." My guess is that these are some large
species of chafer, which are day-flying scarabs distantly related to
Phyllophaga.
It may seem like a small point, but this is the whole reason we have Latin
names for organisms. What are called "June Bugs" in one county may not be
the same thing in another county! The system of Latin names, in which each
species gets just one fixed name, was designed to remedy the confusion that
results from using vernacular names.
So nobody is denying your observations of large green beetles eating iris
rhizomes, just that they ain't the "official" June Bugs, which had confused
a lot of us.
When I learned the names of wildflowers, I was taught by local naturalists
to use the English name "Paintbrush" for species of Heracleum (may not be
spelled correctly), which are "officially" called "Hawkweed" while in the
western part of the country quite a different plant in a different family
goes under the "official" name of Paintbrush. Endless confusion.
Sorry if this whole discussion got out of hand--but it IS important to
identify pests as specifically as possible since there might be
alternatives available to chemical controls.
Best wishes, Bill
___________________
William A. Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943 USA
phone (804) 223-6172
FAX (804) 223-6374
