INSECT DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY
Cornell University, Dept. of Entomology,
2144 Comstock Hall, Ithaca NY 14853-2601
Diagnostician: Jason J. Dombroskie, Ph.D.
Do you have an insect problem, and want to know what it is, or more about it ?
At Cornell's Department of Entomology the Insect Diagnostic Lab can help identify insects and related arthropods, and provide management suggestions if needed.
There is a $25 fee, for samples or photos submitted to the lab for an ID; these funds allow the Lab to remain open.
Click here for directions on how to send in samples or photos for identification.
IDL FACTSHEETS
Do you already know what you have, or want more information? We have a number of factsheets available. Please feel free to take a look for descriptions and control recommendations. Click on this link:
Insect Diagnostic Lab Factsheets List
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This spring, you might see fat brownish caterpillars that feed on seedlings and low plants. They may be larvae of the Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba: Noctuidae), a European moth that showed up in New York State a few years ago. The caterpillars are 1-and-a-half to nearly 2 inches long, with distinct black dashes above a faint pale line on their sides. The adults have a variable cryptic forewing pattern, and orange hindwings with a broad black outer line fringed with orange. [Photos © 2013 by J.J. Dombroskie] |
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In the autumn several kinds of outdoor insects come to house walls and attics, or firewood stacks, in order to spend the winter in a protected spot. Now that the weather has warmed up, the overwintering insects may show up indoors, trying to make their way back outside. Photos © 2012 by J.J. Dombroskie. |
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Have you ever wondered how insects are identified and how it has changed over time?
In this 30 minute webinar http://vimeo.com/54970615 our diagnostician Jason Dombroskie discusses Trends in Insect Diagnostics.Are you curious about what kinds of things are commonly sent in for identification ?
Follow this link for a list of the top IDs in the past few years for samples from indoors, and also a list of the kinds of garden, yard, and house plants people have sent samples from for us to identify the pests.
Other Contacts:
For questions about West Nile virus or Lyme disease, contact the local office of your state health department, or see: http://entomology.cornell.edu/cals/entomology/extension/medent/index.cfm
For questions about insects and related pests in and around the home, or in the garden, you can contact your local Cooperative Extension office. In New York State, see:
Local Cooperative Extension Offices
A program of Cornell Cooperative Extension in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.