The calm before the storm...otherwise said: the beauty before Popillia japonica...

#TakahashiaJaponica #StringCottonyScale impressive population and damages on two mulberries in Varese city. This is the result of three consecutive years infestation by this insect, which is spreading quite rapidly.

Climate adaptation & resilience. No matter the supermarket brand or municipality: parking lots are ample asphalt sealed surfaces creating heat islands under increasing temperatures. When will we discover the importance of trees in mitigating climate change effects in urban areas?

#Urban #Trees (25): what kind of sin may these trees have committed in the parking lot to be treated like that? Shading? Dirty someone's car with honeydew?

Low temperatures and high umidity in early spring favor attacks of the fungus #TaphrinaDeformans, aka Peach Bubble, causing characteristic symptoms on leaves. Correct choice of varieties, location, pruning and some preventive treatments are necessary also in small gardens.

#Urban #Trees (24). This astonishing linden, Tilia spp., has been pruned for more than 50 years to shape its branches as long rays, covering completely a bar yard, and shading with its canopy customers in summer.

#ClimateChange & ornamental plants: mild winter temperatures has led to early blooming of several species (2 months+ on Camellia). Early blooming + late frost is a dangerous mix which has severe consequences e.g. on C. japonica cv "Lavinia Maggi", which flowers are burnt.

#PineProcessionaryMoth (Traumatocampa pityocampa) nests on a big Pinus nigra in a city centre. Larvae's irritating hairs can harm people and animals. Removal or destruction of the nests should be done in winter, and warnings to citizens placed in the surroundings.

Here in Varese, spring is marked by the magnificent blooming of several varieties of Magnolia x soulangeana, a pleasure for the eyes and mind.

Definition of elegance: the flowing foliage of the weeping willow in spring!!!

Pay attention while digging your compost heap!!! You might inadvertently wake up someone earlier than expected, like it happened to me. Sorry ma'am...

Lamium purpureum, aka Red dead-nettle, offers a valuable early pasture to bumblebees, such as Bombus terrestris and Bombus pascuorum, and honeybees. Be patient, let them enjoy for a while, before spading your vegetable garden. Help protect pollinators!!!

Camellia japonica "Oki-no-nami" (Ocean waves) supposed to show flowers in spring, fully in bloom in February in Lombardy. Earlier and earlier blooming along the years, due to mild winters. Is it linked to #ClimateChange?

#Urban #Trees (23): roots and trunk protections must be checked regularly, widened when tight or removed, to prevent damages to trees' collar.

#TreeClimbing is the best technique for inspecting trees' canopy and for selective pruning, reaching small branches and avoid causing damages to mature trees'.

🍎Apple internal browning is a physiological disorder associated with later harvested, large, and over mature fruit and with CO2 concentration in storage. The fruit appears normal from outside, without symptoms. Once opened, It reveals...

#Urban #Trees (22): access of heavy machinery for maintenance of mature or historic parks must consider soil conditions to prevent soil compaction and damages to trees' roots, favoring pathogens attacks to roots and triggering trees' decline.

Mild winter temperatures in northern Lombardy fool primeroses, blooming months erlier than what it is expected. With current climate change trend, this phenomenon affects many plants.

People in #Gaza are still living in dire conditions. Their homes collapsed, their tents are torn by the winter weather. They need more food, more medicine, more shelter supplies. Humanitarian aid is available. UNRWA and other aid organisations are still working. Lift the aid restrictions.

Do not judge me only from the bend! Trees stability evaluation requires a careful assessment of many parameters, using suitable technology if necessary. The place where a potentially dangerous tree is located can constitute an aggravating factor in the risk assessment.

Il dono di Natale fuori stagione della camelia "Oki-no-nami": Onde sull'oceano. Un unico fiore, inatteso. Sereno Natale a tutti!!!

Autumn and Winter let best appreciate the beauty of #PlatanusAcerifolia, London Plane, bark. This species is well adapted to difficult living condition of urban environment, where it also contributes to our quality of life with shade and air purification.

Autumn beauty: mature Lombardy poplars and spectacular London Plane trees in Villa Mylius, Varese.

The presence in these days of fruiting bodies of #Armillaria, #HoneyMushrooms, in your orchard or garden is not a good sign. To prevent attacks of this parasitic fungi keep your trees in good health, avoid water stagnation and heavy pruning!

#Urban #Trees (21): pruning big branches or not respecting the collar area lead to open wounds through which fungi agents of wood decay can easily enter trees. For maintaining healthy trees, prune wisely and properly, considering trees anatomy and physiology!

#Urban #Trees (20): superficial structural #roots of trees such as Norway spruce can be heavily damaged by improper use of lawnmowers tractors, favoring pathogens attack and trees decline, leading to death.

Interlaminar serpentine mines caused by the larvae of the lepidopteran #PhyllocnistisCitrella, a potted lime tree leaves in Ispra, northern Italy. Damage visible from upper and lower surface. Possible established population of the pest in the area. Pictures: courtesy Chiara Magliozzi.

On Sept 13th 📆our Eugenio Gervasini & Beatrice Melone will stage the storytelling play "Dialoghi alieni sulla Biodiversità" at CNR event “𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀-𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞” 🌊 in Bologna. A journey through the canal nature, ending with a fictional debate on invasive species 🦀🦞👉http://bit.ly/3JNfION

Impressive death of Norway spruce trees, Picea excelsa, caused by the #BarkBeetle #IpsTypographus in Val Badia, South Tyrol. Experts consider this massive attack a legacy of the storm Vaia, which knocked down 42,500 ha of woods in northern Italy in 2018. Increasing temperatures favored the beetle.

Ready for #ECSA2026?
 Join this panel to share results, methods, frameworks, and debates in #AgriFood Citizen Science. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝟕 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/ecsa2026/p/17100
 #CallForPapers

📢New pest survey card: #Anthonomus bisignifer & A. signatus 👉Protect strawberries and other important crops from these pests. Strengthen your surveillance efforts with this resource. 🌱 #PlantHealth #PestSurveyCard #SurveillanceNetwork

#PopilliaJaponica, #JapaneseBeetle, host preference: Betula utilis var. jacquemontii, Himalayan birch, with canopy completely skeletonized in the foreground, compared to untouched Betula pendula in the background.

L'alternariosi del pomodoro, causata dal fungo patogeno #AlternariaSolani, ha un optimum di temperatura tra i 25 e i 35 gradi con elevata umidita'. Per questo si osserva facilmente adesso negli orti familiari. Efficaci distanza tra piante, trattamenti con rame e pulizia foglie.

#HorsechestnutLeafBlotch typical internerval symptoms, caused by the fungus #GuignardiaAesculi, has been favored by last weeks heavy rain and high humidity in northern Lombardy, Italy. Damages mostly aesthetic, removal of dead leaves is useful to control future infections.

Rosure da #HeliothisArmigera, nottua del pomodoro. Le larve di questo lepidottero nottuide hanno causato gravi danni nel Canton Ticino (Svizzera) a fagioli, piselli, ceci e mais dolce coltivati in pieno campo, e pomodori, melanzane e peperoni in serra. bit.ly/46JiiPd

Yellowish apperance of #NorwaySpruce tips due the infection of the fungus #ChrysomixaRhododendri, which completes its cycle between Rhododendron and Picea abies, observed in Valle Verzasca, Switzerland, on 27.07, at about 1.500 mt a. s. l.

Parasite fungus #ExobasidiumRhododendri gall-like bodies on Rhododendron plants in Valle Verzasca, Switzerland, about 1,700 mt a.s.l., on 27.07.

This study revealed important fragmentation in communication strategies within and across key European biodiversity research structures. @naturalsciences-be.bsky.social #biodiversity @allantsouza.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy ‪ doi.org/10.3897/BDJ....

#CamerariaOhridella, #HorseChestnutLeafMiner, #InvasiveAlienSpecies moth, once a plague, has become an entomological curiosity in Lombardy, with its typical leaf mines.

Autumn appearance of birches, which leaves have been skeletonized by the #InvasiveAlienSpecies #PopilliaJaponica #Japanese beetle in Varese province, today.

Bamboo, if not properly contained and confined in gardens, can very easily become invasive occupying large areas, causing also problems with neighbours. Root barriers must be laid.

#Urban #Trees (19): trees decay appears as a transparency of the canopy, due to microphyllia, which can eventually lead to trees death, in conjunction with drought and high temperatures. Root causes are very often linked to pathogens affecting vascular and root system.

#OxythyreaFunesta, cetoniella, piccolo coleottero scarabeide che si nutre di polline e nettare, di fiori (in particolare bianchi) e foglie. Le sue popolazioni sono aumentate negli ultimi anni e possono causare danni. Nel giardino e nell'orto e' consigliata la raccolta manuale.

#PopilliaJaponica, #JapaneseBeetle populations dropped dramatically in Varese. Still, it is highly damaging on roses buds and Prunus species leaves. Early morning collection of insects is higly effective.

#Urban #Trees (18): the choice of well structured specimens, free of defects, with a healthy root system, properly prepared in nurseries following industry standards, is a guarantee for success after transplanting in urban environment.

#MorusPlatanifolia, aka #FruitlessMulberry, an interesting species for shade, shows good tolerance to high temperatures.

A pleasant scent spreads from the flowers of the centuries-old chestnut tree in my garden in Varese, particularly intense at evenings. A heartfelt thanks, old fella, for this beauty!!!

Orange egg mass of #DoriforaDecemlineata, #ColoradoBeetle, adult and larva on potatoes blossoming in Varese, Lombardy.

Elevata umidita' relativa favorisce l' oidio, detto mal bianco, malattia causata da diverse specie di funghi, su orticole e ornamentali, compresi nocciolo e lauroceraso. Scelta varietale, oculate tecniche di coltivazione, ne riducono l'incidenza. All' occorrenza, zolfo bagnabile.

Garden visitors: #ChrysolinaErbacea, di colore verde metallico, e #ChrysolinaGrossa, due coleotteri crisomelidi che si nutrono delle foglie di menta. Appariscenti, ma nessun problema...alito fresco!