Rising mushrooms precede pests

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Mushrooms and moths are multiplying at a frenzied pace.

Mosquitoes are getting ready to get their buzz on.

That’s what happens when you have a soggy, soaked, saturated Tampa area.

“We got the entire month’s rainfall in the first 10 days of the month,” said Logan Johnson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.

The most noticeable – and possibly gross – invasion is that of the mushrooms, a fungus that grows when the moisture level is off the charts.

“They are exploding everywhere,” Johnson said. “You have to keep an eye on them with the dogs.”

Bill O’Grady, supervisor at Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, has noticed fields of different kinds of mushrooms and toadstools in his Tierra Verde neighborhood.

“That’s a normal consequence of living in this part of the world with lots of rain and heat,” O’Grady said.

Another consequence is sod webworms, which invade yards when rainfall is plentiful.

You know you have them when you walk through your grass and a cloud of moths takes off. They land on the underside of grass blades and other vegetation so that birds and other predators such as wasps can’t easily find them.

“They are really coming out with a vengeance right now,” O’Grady said. “They are laying eggs right now. Then the caterpillars will start chewing away at the grass and cause damage to that.”

The Sunken Gardens representative recommends a product called BT to control the webworms in their caterpillar stage. Others say putting a bird bath near the damaged portion of grass may invite birds to come feed on them, while still others say not killing wasps or destroying their nests will also serve as damage control.

Lastly, mosquitoes are starting to be a problem.

“In my yard, I have noticed them over the last few days,” said Nicole Pinson of the Hillsborough County Extension Service. “They’re really bad.”

Carlos Fernandes, director of mosquito control for Hillsborough County, said his office has not started getting a lot of calls yet about outbreaks. But he knows they are coming.

“It takes a little bit of time,” he said. “If it rains a lot and then we have lots of sunshine and boiling heat, it speeds up the process.”

The county will attack mosquitoes in the aquatic stage by spraying pastures and other areas that hold water by helicopter. It also will send trucks into known hot spots for the pesky insects.

They want to keep a close eye on the mosquito population, Fernandes said, because 18 of the state’s 48 cases of West Nile virus or eastern equine encephalitis so far this year have come from Hillsborough County.

In Tampa, the June rainfall total stands at 7.56 inches so far. The normal for this time of the month in June is 1.58 inches; the normal for the entire month is 6.68 inches.

For the year, 16.39 inches have fallen already. That’s compared with 13.78 for this time of year.

With the first day of summer coming Wednesday, the month gets even rainier as the calendar progresses. That’s because afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms become even more common.

The daily average rainfall early in the month is 0.13 per day early in June, Johnson said. By the end of the month, the total goes up to 0.29 a day.

“It doubles as we go deeper into the month,” the forecaster said.

That’s why, officials say, it is especially important to not over-water lawns, which creates even more pest problems. It’s also crucial to make sure water is not standing in gutters, flower pots and other items, which can invite mosquitoes.

Recipes for Mushrooms with Bill & Sheila

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