aphids

WSU scientists unmask the humble earwig as an apple-protecting predator

Helping Northwest apple growers protect their crops, WSU scientists have found new proof that earwigs are actually valuable predators in apple orchards, rather than the creepy, crawly, apple-damaging pests they’re sometimes assumed to be. In the May 2019 edition of the journal Biological Control, Robert Orpet, recent doctoral graduate at Washington State University’s Tree Fruit Research and […]

Robert Orpet in an orchard with a cardboard earwig trap

Student entomologist stalks predators to save Washington apples

White, fuzzy, and about the size of a pencil tip, the woolly apple aphid is a persistent pest in Northwest apple orchards, harming trees and shrinking apple harvests. Robert Orpet, doctoral student at Washington State University’s Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, knows that farmers have a hard time getting rid of this tiny pest. […]

Robert Orpet in an orchard with a cardboard earwig trap