What does Pittsburgh's mild winter mean for spring bugs?

On the calendar, it might technically be winter.

In real life, Penn State assistant research professor Michael Skvarla just pulled a black-legged tick off his daughter about a week ago. That’s typically a spring and summer problem.

But the Pittsburgh region is on pace for one of its mildest winters on record, and for one of the primary carriers of Lyme disease, that means it’s time to get out and about.

The average high temperature in February was 51 degrees in the Pittsburgh region, and the average low was 28 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. February’s average daily high temperature in Pittsburgh this month exceeded historical averages for 25 days. Only three days in February saw daily highs below average, and all were at the start of the month.

“As long as it’s above freezing, the adult ticks are active all winter long,” Skvarla said. “So with less snow-covered days, you may see more people getting tick bites. Snow cover in particular is what keep them down, because they can’t get above it.”

Related:

• Snow forecast could see 1-2 inches in Western Pa.

And while state agriculture and wildlife officials have put out public service announcements for residents to destroy the eggs of the invasive spotted lanternfly on sight, Skvarla said any kind of winter weather — mild or not — is unlikely to affect them.

“They come out later in the year,” he said. “They hatch in late spring and it doesn’t matter much what weather happens now. They may hatch a week or so earlier, but that’s about it.”

State agriculture officials added a half-dozen new counties to its Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine zone, including nearby Fayette, Butler and Somerset, along with Lawrence, Clearfield and Clinton counties. The zone is now spread across most of southern and eastern Pennsylvania.

Mandy Smith, a Penn State Extension Master Gardener in Westmoreland County, said this is a great time of year to try to destroy the lanternflies’ egg masses.

“Usually they start hatching around May,” she said.” Both Penn State and the state agriculture websites have data on identifying the egg masses.

Native insects, however, can have more of a difficult time when the winter is so mild, Skvarla said.

“They’ll wake up earlier because the temperatures tell them it’s time,” he said. “Then, if we get a cold snap in April, they’re burning their fat reserves and there’s nothing to eat and replace them. So, by the time spring properly gets here, they have no fuel to eat and can die off.”

In addition to keeping an eye out for invasives like the lanternfly and disease hosts like ticks, Skvarla and Smith encouraged homeowners to seek out native plants and attract the bugs that are supposed to be around.

“Try to avoid the ornamental species that aren’t from North America or Pennsylvania,” Skvarla said. “And try to avoid flowers that are heavily bred. A lot of big showy flowers are pretty, but they also have things like double flowers that make pollen collection impossible.”

Skvarla advised picking native flowers that will thrive in local backyards. They include bee balm, cardinal flower, blue flag iris and kalmia, blue wild indigo and black-eyed Susans.

“We encourage gardeners to make spaces for insects like queen bees to overwinter, as well,” Smith said. “And hopefully that coincides with blooming, so that they do have pollen and nectar sources they can go to.”

For more information on bringing native plants to your backyard, see Extension.psu.edu.