RSS Feeds  Warm winter points to buggy summer  Thursday -
4/5/2012, 12:23pm  ET  A mantid, known colloquially as a praying
mantis, feasts on a stink bug. Mantids are friendly garden bugs.
(Courtesy Michael J. Raupp)   • Gallery: (4 images)  It could be
a 'watershed year' for stink bugs  University of Maryland
entomologist Mike Raupp talks with WTOP   Capital News Service
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The mild winter and warm spring may have
helped area plants and trees bloom faster, but it could come at
a price: a potentially buggy summer that could affect everyone
from home gardeners to farmers.  University of Maryland
entomologist Mike Raupp said the mild winter was helpful for
bugs that rode out the colder months in soil that did not freeze
as often due to above average temperatures.  In addition, the
unusually warm start to spring could allow bugs with multiple
generations -- like aphids and spider mites -- to get a head
start and complete more generations than normal, leading to an
overall larger population.  Alt