It’s summertime, and there are a few things residents of the Deep South can count on this time of year — heat, humidity and insects. Fireflies and cicadas are popular topics these days, but of all the creeping, crawling, buzzing creatures that bug us, one is met with near-universal revulsion — the cockroach. Whether you’re new to the South or a lifelong resident, you’ve likely run into one of the several species of cockroaches that are common in the region.

Spring is approaching and now is a great time to schedule a community clean-up event. These events can be organized by citizens, civic groups or local governments and often have a theme or targeted area in a town or community. Clean-up events provide many benefits to a community including raising the awareness of litter prevention, developing pride in our communities and restoring the natural environment.

Whether it was Punxsutawney Phil or the Old Farmer’s Almanac, somebody got it right because, after a relatively mild winter, it’s been a cool spring across the Southeast. Even as summer approaches, these cool temperatures have provided some relief on both the air conditioning bill and the mosquito front.

Dan Suiter, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension entomologist and well-known expert in addressing the needs of pest control operators, has been named the Orkin Professor of Urban Entomology at UGA. Orkin, an industry leader in pest control services and protection, has created the endowment to help strengthen the entomology program in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

As January transitions to February, few of us are thinking about mosquitoes and the multitude of problems they can cause when spring arrives. But with January rain totals well above normal across the Southeast, it is a good time to take inventory of where standing water is holding and what can be done to eliminate it.

Cooler weather may be upon us, but as we open windows and head outside, it is important to remember that we are still in mosquito season. Recent rains have filled all of the containers, cracks and crevices that can hold water around our homes and neighborhoods. While working around my yard, I have found mosquito larvae in the bird bath, a garbage can lid and in the rim of a recycling container.

There are many things you come to expect living in the Southern U.S. You can count on sweetened ice tea being available at every restaurant, there will always be festivals named after fruits and vegetables, and the weather after Easter will never make any sense. You can also count on fire ant mounds appearing in late spring. 

Jena Johnson, a lab manager in the Department of Entomology in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, captures what she observes working with mosquitoes and other insects in the lab of entomology professor Michael Strand. She finds scientific and artistic meaning in her photos, which offer a glimpse at both intriguing behavioral phenomena and unexpected natural beauty.

If you don't mind alien-looking creatures skittering around your home, house centipedes are handy things to have around. They're not nearly as big as they look. A house centipede's body is only an inch long, but its long antennae and 15 pairs of extended, spindly legs make it look much larger. They give it a frilly, rippling look as it moves.