Traveling this Holiday Season? Stay Safe from Bed Bugs!

As I get ready to travel myself for the holidays, I am reminded of an unfortunate run-in I had with bed bugs in a hotel last year. I thought it would be a good time to re-post some information I wrote then on how to stay safe from bed bugs when you're traveling. Feel free to contact me with any questions!

Bed bugs have seen a global resurgence in the past 15 years and don’t discriminate between hosts, housing types, or, unfortunately, hotels. As long as they can get a blood meal they are happy campers. They are notoriously hard to control once an infestation gets started, so I wanted to give everyone some tips to stay ahead of this epidemic when you leave the comforts of your home! 

A shed skin of a bed bug on the underside of a hotel mattress I found recently. As they get older, bed bugs outgrow their outer layer (exoskeleton) and leave behind these shed skins. The black spots near the skin are fecal stains from the bug.

My arm in 2016 after sharing a bed with some bed bugs! Several bites in a line like this are characteristic of bed bug bites. 

An adult bed bug (Photo: Bart Drees, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension)

Tips for Travelers: Scouting for Bed Bugs

How to scout your hotel room for bed bugs:

1.     Don’t put any belongings on the bed or unpack before you complete your inspection. I put my luggage on the luggage rack (usually in the closets of most rooms) or in the bathroom until I have checked for bed bugs.

2.     Things you are looking for: 

·      actual bed bugs 

·      shed skin of immature bugs 

·      dark brown fecal spots (dried excrement)

Adult bed bugs are approximately a quarter of an inch long and red-brown with oval, flattened bodies. Immature bed bugs are smaller versions of the adults, but with a much lighter color and approximately the size of a pinhead.

3.     Begin with a preliminary check around the room. Focus on the corners of ceilings and the baseboards. 

4.     Remove the corners of the fitted sheet and look underneath the mattress and box spring. Examine the mattress seams and crevices in the box spring. Pay special attention to head of the bed. Most cell phones have a flashlight that is very useful for this!

5.     You should also inspect crevices in the bed frame. This is especially important if the bed frame is wood!

6.     If there is a removable headboard, remove it from the wall and inspect the crevices on the back. This is a common place for bed bug infestations to begin. If you have never done this before, make sure you have two people to remove it safely.

7.     Other things that can be inspected include behind picture frames or couches and chairs. But limit your search to items near the bed! 

What to do if your hotel room has bed bugs:

1.     Call the front desk and request a new room. Problems are usually contained in a particular area, so try to get a room in a different area.

2.     Quarantine all your belongings in garbage bags (or something similar), especially if they were on/near the bed or if you experienced bites.

3.     Put everything that is safe for laundering in a dryer at high heat for at least 45 minutes. DO NOT wash first! A washing machine does not typically get hot enough to kill all the bugs. After you have dried everything, then you can resume a normal washing routine. 

4.     Keep your luggage/anything that can’t be laundered in a closed garbage bag until you can treat it. Contact your local pest control company for how to do this. 

Important facts about bed bugs:

·      Bed bugs feed only on the blood of animals and spend most of their time where they can get a reliable blood meal from their host. In the case of hotel rooms, this is near the bed. Only when they are very hungry, or there is a bad infestation, will you find them in other places. 

·      Bed bugs do not transmit diseases when they bite. Every person reacts differently, ranging from mild irritation and itching to large, red welts. Some reactions are delayed and occur days or even weeks after the bite.

·      Bed bug bites are usually painless so people don’t always realize they are being bitten. Any exposed skin is vulnerable, such as arms, legs, face, or neck. Bed bugs will typically make several bites at at time, often in a short line. 

·      Bed bugs are mostly active at night and can go months without a blood meal. Therefore, ignoring a problem and hoping that they starve is not a reliable solution.

·      There has been a global resurgence in bed bugs over the last decade and eradicating an infestation can be time-consuming and expensive. Taking pro-active measures when you’re traveling to avoid bringing them home is always worth it!  

Important Label Updates for Dicamba

Growers in Texas were fortunate to have access to the newly registered dicamba technologies in 2017 for weed control. While complaints in Texas were relatively low compared to other states, the EPA has worked with companies on new label requirements to reduce any chance of off-target movement of the pesticide in 2018. These changes went into effect in October of this year.

The major changes that applicators need to be aware of are the following:

• XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology, Fexapan Plus VaporGrip Technology and Engenia herbicides are now classified as Restricted Use Pesticides 

• Every person applying these products to any crop will be required to attend annual, mandatory auxin-specific training 

You can read about this in more detail in the Texas Row Crops Newsletter - Dicamba Label Updates and Mandatory Training for Applicators.

Trainings:

Texas A&M Agrilife Extension will be offering these TDA-mandated, 1-hour trainings throughout the winter. We will announce more as they are scheduled, but the first 3 have been scheduled in Amarillo and will be hosted by agronomist Dr. Jourdan Bell.

• January 12, February 9, March 9
• 8:30-9:30 am
• Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Center, 6500 W Amarillo Blvd, Amarillo 
• There is no fee and each class will be 1 CEU in laws and regulations

We will be hosting trainings in Lubbock, and will get that information out as soon as they are scheduled. 

High Plains Ag Conference - tomorrow Dec 8 in Lubbock!

The annual High Plains Ag Conference is being held tomorrow, Friday, December 8 at the Texas A&M Agrilife Research Center in Lubbock, TX.

Producers can get up to date on the latest crop news in corn, sorghum, and cotton and get 5 CEUs in one day. Topics covered include sorghum, wheat and nitrogen updates, cotton production considerations for 2018, corn herbicide trial results, and nematode and disease management.

Registration and lunch will cost $45 at the door.

Meeting is tomorrow, Friday Dec 8 from 8:30 - 3:00 pm at the Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Center, 1102 E FM 1294 Lubbock, TX.

Call the Lubbock Co Extension office at 806-775-1740 with any questions.

Southern High Plains IPM Newsletter, Oct 13

This week's newsletter is full of resources on late-season cotton management and fumonisin in corn.

Click here to read! 

Cotton Market Teleconference - this Friday, Oct 13

Get up to date on cotton market information this Friday, October 13.

Subject: 
- Cotton Outlook Teleconference

When: 
- Friday, October 13, 2017 at 7:30am

Panelists: 
- O.A. Cleveland, Professor Emeritus, Mississippi State University
- John Robinson, Professor and Extension Specialist/Cotton Marketing, Texas A&M University
- Jarral Never, President, Calcot Ltd.
- Patrick McClatchy, Executive Director, Ag Market Network

Guest Speaker:
- H.W. "Kip" Butts, Senior Cotton Analyst and Director of Energy Services, Information Economics

How to listen in:
- Call 712-775-7085
- Code 969119

Fumonisin Levels and Insect Damage in Corn

The following is a blogpost written by Dr. Pat Porter, Extension Entomologist, for FOCUS on Entomology, a blog of agricultural entomology on the Southern High Plains from Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension. 

Fumonisin Levels and Insect Damage in Corn

Pat Porter

I am not smart enough to be a Plant Pathologist, and in fact had two courses in it in college and still don't understand it. The classic 'disease triangle' taught in pathology says that disease occurs where there is a pathogen, susceptible host and conducive environment. This year we seem to have had a happy triangle for Fumarium species, the causative agents of fumonisins. 

Not much is known locally about how this fungi interact with our corn, but is it thought that drought stress followed by warm, wet weather, especially at flowering, favor the fungi. Being just an entomologist, I tend to think there is a baseline risk for significant fungal infections based on the susceptibility of the host (hybrid genetics) and environmental conditions. Without insects in the system there will be a given level of fungal growth and fumonisin creation. In my simplistic entomologist's picture, the baseline level is what it is and can vary from year to year, but insect damage can add to this level by opening wounds on the ear and/or by insects carrying fungal spores into the ear. 

Dr. Ed Bynum and I did some work at Lubbock in 2012 that looked at the amount of fumonisin in ears with three different levels of insect damage, and more fumonisin was found with higher levels of insect damage. This was one hybrid of non-Bt corn that we sprayed with different timings of insecticide so as to get the three damage levels. 

Figure 1. Type of ear damage and fumonisin levels associated with that damage, 2012.

This year there is a need to try and determine to what extent insect damage might be contributing to fumonisin levels, but this is not easy to do unless the hybrids have the same genetic background (inherent susceptibility) and are grown in the same field under the same conditions. One seed company has a small plot field trial near Ralls, and they were kind enough to allow me to sample ears from their new hybrid that contains Vip3a and other toxins, and an older Bt type that has fewer toxins but still the same genetic background as the new type of corn. This is a fair comparison for determining the role of insects. The older type of Bt corn averaged 3.6 damaged kernels per ear, while the new corn with Vip3a was essentially undamaged. Even the silks on the new type of corn were intact. The photos below represent what I saw in the field today.

Figure 2. New hybrid with Vip3a and other toxins (top) and older Bt with two toxins (bottom). The new hybrid was essentially without insect damage. In the olde hybrid the insect damage was only at the tip, but fungal growth could proceed through much of the ear.

The same photo as above, but rendered in an infrared simulation that highlights the kernels damaged by fungi.

It is common on the High Plains for nearly every ear of corn to have corn ear worm damage, and this year was no different and not significantly worse. In the opinion of this entomologist, the problems we are having this year are primarily due to environmental conditions that favored Fusarium. Having said that, I have worked with Vip3a corn for six years, and in all that time have only seen two live caterpillars in thousands of ears examined. Vip3a corn is essentially bulletproof for now, and if the goal is to reduce caterpillar damage then this type of corn is the way to do. Of course it is more expensive than older Bt technologies. All of the seed companies put other Bt toxins in with Vip3a. Pioneer sells their Vip3a corn as Optimum Leptra or AcreMax Leptra, Monsanto is now beginning commercial sales for 2018 as Trecepta, and Syngenta calls it Agrisure Viptera or Agrisure Duracade 5222. This is not to say that these hybrids won't have fumonisin problems; the inherent susceptibility might be more or less. It is to say that they will have less insect damage, which our data suggest ultimately play a role in fumonisin.

Update on 10/11/17: Erin Louise Bowers did her Ph.D. dissertation on the benefits of transgenic corn in reducing fumonisin levels. She found that Cry1Ab + Vip3a corn had lower fumonisin levels than other types of Bt corn and non-Bt corn. The work is here. 

Resources for Fumonisin in Corn on the High Plains

Over the past couple of weeks, there have been reports of mycotoxins (Fumonisin) showing up in early harvested corn. If you suspect you have Fumonisin in your field, the process starts before harvest. Click below to read the protocol from the Texas Corn Producers that outlines the process to follow.

Mycotoxin levels on High Plains post threat to region's corn farmers 

It states, in part:

1. Make insurance provider aware of the suspected issue prior to harvest, storage or destruction of the cornfield.
2. Adjuster must collect samples of the Representative Sample Area (RSA) prior to the grain entering storage or the destruction of the field. Only the adjuster is approved to obtain samples from the standing crop. 
3. An Approved Insurance Provider (AIP)-Approved Testing Facility (i.e. laboratory) must complete analysis of these samples. 

What is Fumonisin? 

Understanding Fumonisin Contamination of Corn: Contrasts and Comparisons with Aflatoxin

How Can I Reduce My Risk?

Best Management Practices to Prevent or Reduce Mycotoxin Contamination of Corn in Texas


The Office of the Texas State Chemist has more information on Fumonison Sampling, Testing, and Risk Management in Corn .