Author: Dr. Dave Coyle

Did you just see a fuzzy red and black ant scurrying across your yard, driveway, or pine straw? Then you just saw a velvet ant – they’re closely related to ants but are actually wasps. There are...

Big, yellow spiders, anyone? South Carolina has them, and as summer heats up, they get more and more noticeable. One of these spiders is the Joro spider, a non-native species first found in northern...

The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) (SLF) is the latest non-native species to take hold in the U.S. This planthopper is large (about a half-inch long) and originally from several countries...

It’s not a banana, but it is big and yellow…it’s a banana spider! These gentle arachnids are fairly common in South Carolina during mid to late summer, especially in the Lowcountry. These spiders...

The recent news that all Pyrus calleryana cultivars – the most common of which is the Bradford pear – and several Elaeagnus species have been added to the “do not sell” list in South Carolina has...

The eastern Hercules beetle is one of the largest and heaviest insects in the U.S. In South Carolina, there is only one Hercules beetle species, Dynastes tityus. These insects are a type of beetle...

The box tree moth, Cydalima perspectalis, is a non-native moth that has recently been found in a nursery in South Carolina. Native to eastern Asia, the box tree moth has been present in Canada since...

A lot of attention recently has been on periodical cicadas, which are coming out of the ground after 17 years across parts of the Southeast and much of the Mid-Atlantic region. However, another...

Every spring, all over in South Carolina, we see yards, abandoned lots, natural areas, roadsides, and, in some cases, forests filled with white flowers. These first white flowers of the year are...

The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB; Anoplophora glabripennis) is not easy to miss – adults of this large, black beetle with white spots, black and white striped antennae, and blueish feet are between...