Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 24, 1994 TAG: 9410240095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Japanese ladybugs, that is.
Last fall, Virginians had their first encounter with a new kind of ladybug - new, at least, to these parts.
Harmonius Axyridus look like plain old garden-variety ladybugs, except in the fall of the year, when the little buggers swarm like bees. They first were introduced into the United States in the late 1970s to fight aphids on Deep South farms.
But when the new-fangled bugs got tired of just hanging out on pecan trees and in soybean fields, they moved north, in a big way.
Virginians first noticed them last fall on warm October afternoons, when they began clustering on the sides of houses - a throwback to their days in Japan, where this strain of ladybugs congregates on rock formations for the winter.
By now, the fast-moving ladybugs have spread up the East Coast, all the way into Maine and Quebec. Agriculture officials admit they're surprised by how fast these ladybugs have expanded their foothold in the New World, but they're hopeful that the size of the autumn swarms won't keep growing.
``No insect will keep on expanding its population like that,'' says Al Wheeler, an entomologist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, whose state just got hit this year. ``Something is going to knock the population down, whether it's inclement weather or natural enemies here in North America. I don't think the numbers are going to keep going up and up.''
The ag experts admit these ladybugs can be a pain when they crawl inside houses and start hanging from the ceiling in big, writhing gobs of otherwise harmless ladybugs.
But Wheeler points out: "This thing does stand to be beneficial in the long run. There's evidence they are doing quite a bit of good in pecan orchards down in Georgia suppressing aphid populations."
In the meantime, what should folks around here do if the ladybugs infest your living room?
Have a vacuum cleaner ready, the ag experts say. Suck 'em up and toss 'em out.
No heartbreak hotel
If Jane Gabrielle has her way, the walkway from Wells Avenue into the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center complex will be a rocking experience. Radar Rose, the acoustic rock band of which she is a member, paid $50 to have its name engraved on one of the walkway bricks, and Gabrielle wants other musicians to do likewise.
"I challenge other area bands to join in," she says. Gabrielle is a Richmond native, but says she "really digs" living in Roanoke and thinks the hotel project is a "good thing."
Brick orders can be placed at 981-1170 until Oct. 31. Commission members say if you don't belong to a band, maybe you have a favorite pet to honor.
What would Erica Jong think?
Voters may need a class in constitutional law to understand the most obscure of three proposed state constitutional amendments on Nov. 8.
Senator Majority Leader Hunter Andrews, who was the proposed amendment's patron, admitted it's not the easiest thing to understand.
"It's not like reading a sex novel, ... but it's logical," said Andrews, a Democrat from Hampton.
The amendment, which has bipartisan support, is a technical clarification of the procedures followed by the General Assembly and the governor in bill and amendment passage.
Pins, but no pennies
Salem School Board members will accept awards - certificates, pins and plaques - for their services.
But no money. Not a penny. It is truly a labor of love.
The salary for board members is $1,700 a year, a small amount for the meetings and the long hours on other duties.
But none of the five members accepts the money: Three donate it to the Salem Education Foundation; one contributes the money to community organizations and charities; the other takes nothing, but makes personal contributions to community groups.
School Superintendent Wayne Tripp said the board members don't accept even a pittance for their time.
The question of pay arose last week when Tripp presented awards to the board members from the Virginia School Boards Association. The organization makes awards to school board members in all school divisions who meet certain requirements.
The awards are nice, but they are nothing new, Tripp said.
"These people have so many certificates and pins that they don't what to do with them," he said.
A pat on the back
Roanoke Times & World-News staff writer Mary Bishop was awarded an outstanding service certificate from the Archeological Society of Virginia for her articles about the preservation of cemeteries and tombstones in the state - specifically the Springwood Burial Park Cemetery in Roanoke.
Bishop received the award, which has been given only three times in 10 or 15 years, at the society's 54th annual meeting in Norfolk on Oct. 15.
The award acknowledged Bishop's "well done and precise" articles, said Joey Moldenhauer, a board member of the 750-member organization based in Richmond.
"It's being in touch with people and the needs of society, and realizing what cultural resources are, and being able to put it all together and get her point across," Moldenhauer said.
The June 25 article about the overgrown Springwood Burial Park Cemetery, which was purchased by a man who wants to put a convenience store on the corner, led to a cleanup that is still under way.
by CNB