I keep hearing folks say we need a hard winter to kill out all of the bugs. That got me to thinking…what actually happens to pests when the weather outside is frightful? What does it take to lower the population during next year’s thaw? Exactly how does weather affect bugs like fleas, ticks, spiders and flying insects? I checked with University of Kentucky’s Extension Entomologist, Jonathan Larson to see what he had to say.
There's a common misbelief that a rough, cold winter will put a dent in bad insects and plant diseases. If you think a bitterly cold winter will knock back insect pests and reduce the damage they'll do to your spring and summer gardens, you'll be disappointed.
Just because temperatures can get very cold, insects have found ways to adapt in order to survive.
But there are some weather conditions which can occur that will kill off at least some of the insect populations.
Two strategies have evolved among some insects to survive extreme conditions: freeze avoidance and freeze tolerance. An example of a freeze-tolerant insect is the woolly bear caterpillar. Hmmm…so that’s how they predict what the winter will be like. All insects will eventually die if it gets cold enough. But the lower lethal temperature is different for each species. It gets complicated quickly, and so I will save that for another time.
