MOSQUITO CONTROL UNDER WAY IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

A short walk in the woods, along the river, or just in the back yard will tell you they're back.

The good, the bad, the ugly.

Creeping, crawling, flying.

Call them what you want, but it's that time of year when you have to share your time and space with ticks, spiders, beetles and more.

Missouri has been centered in the bull's-eye of a drought forecast for the nation's heartland, and with the unusually warm temperatures and dry weather come the bugs -- insects if you will.

"Beetles, beetles and more beetles ..." was the headline of a recent release from the Integrated Pest & Crop Management Newsletter from the University of Missouri. The headline was in reference to the flea beetle in corn growing regions, the cereal leaf beetles in wheat fields and Southern corn leaf beetles in corn fields. And, for good measure toss in the elm leaf beetles that took winter refuge in homes, building, wood piles and other protected places.

If that's not enough to unnerve the most staunchest of outdoorsmen, toss in the buzzing of the mosquitoes, and the slow-moving, six-legged, wingless tick or those sometimes hard-to-spot spiders lurking outside and inside.

"The average person is going to say that ticks and spiders are bad this year," said Rob Hall, director of the Missouri University Department of Entomology. That could be true.

"The ticks we have around here are trying to get through the winter," Hall said. "If you have a warm dry winter, their chances improve. If you have a cold winter, the mortality will be greater for a couple of reasons."

Another important factor in tick populations, Hall said, is the abundance of warm-blooded wildlife in the Missouri countryside.

"They'll feed on anything with warm blood; it's the only thing they feed on," he said. "So, if you've got a lot of critters running around, like we do here, you have a lot of warm-blooded hosts for parasitic animals."

There's a second thought on pests in the area.

Mike Brown, a state entomologist with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, doesn't expect to see more pests than usual.

"If it seems like there are more bugs buzzing in your face outside, it's only because the mild winter gave them a head start," said Brown.

Ticks and fleas have been more noticeable, he said.

In fact, Brown said, the dry weather may give some Missourians a break from pesky mosquitoes that normally thrive after a wet spring.

There may be some increases in insects populations, but "the average person won't notice the difference," said Brown.

Some areas of the state have had mild bug problems while others have experienced only normal bug situations.

Even though there may be some increases in the insect populations, the number of bugs that help prevent damage to crops and gardens will be sufficient to battle off the "bad bugs," like some species of leaf-eating caterpillars, said Brown.

In the immediate Cape Girardeau area, some chiggers and mosquitoes have been noticed.

Mosquito control is under way in the city, where city workers have been spraying the insects during evening hours when mosquitoes are more active and winds typically have died down.

Some increases in sales of insect repellents and bug sprays have been noted, especially repellents effective against chiggers. Chiggers can make outings unpleasant experiences. The chigger bites are irritating and itchy.

Ray Nabors, who provides the "Bootheel Bug Report" for Southeast Missouri, has mentioned a number of bugs "bugging" farmers.

Problems with cotton "thrips" are worse than any recent year, said Nabors, "and we're having a record year of black cutwowm moths this spring." Besides there are scattered reports of armyworm infestations and soybean leaf beetles.

With the bad comes some good. Any time now, the dark summer landscape of front yards may be dotted with minuscule flashes of color as lightning bugs provide yellowish-green flashes of light.

The lightning bugs -- scientifically known as Lampyridea, more commonly called "fireflies" -- are native to the United States and were once considered in some circles as a candidate for "national insect" and in some states as "state insect."

They're easily spotted. The males use their lights to find mates, and each of the more than 100 species has its own light signals. The little firefly -- a flat, quarter- to half-inch insect (really a beetle) -- is highly sought after by young children, who catch large numbers of the lightning bugs, placing them in a glass jar to watch them flicker.

Children aren't the only ones who want the Lampyridea. Scientists also want the lowly lightning bug.

The insects are highly sought after to give scientists two chemicals used in medical research in such ailments as cancer, heart disease and genetic disorders.