INSECTS
Victor Buccafuri
APHIDS
Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in
temperate regions.
The damage they do to plants has made them enemies of farmers and
gardeners.
There are about 4,400 species of 10 families are known of aphids.
BAGWORMS
The Bagworm is a perennial insect that gets its name from the silken bag it
constructs around itself.
As a caterpillar, in the larval stage, this insect is rarely seen.
They are black, furry, clear-winged moths that have a one inch wingspan.
BORER
The potential damage of this insect rivals that of Chestnut blight and Dutch
Elm Disease
The emerald ash borer is now one of the most destructive non-native insects
in the United States; it and other wood-boring pests cause an estimated $3.5
billion in annual damages in the U.S.
This pest has spread over to 14 states in North America
LEAFHOPPER
Leafhoppers are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees.
Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and are covered with hairs that
facilitate the spreading of a secretion over their bodies that acts as a water
repellent and carrier of pheromones.
Leafhoppers have piercing-sucking mouthparts, enabling them to feed on
plant sap
LEAF MINER
A leaf miner is the larva of an insect that lives in and eats the leaf tissue of
plants.
Leaf miners are protected from many predators and plant defenses by feeding
within the tissues of the leaves themselves, selectively eating only the layers
that have the least amount of cellulose.
Some patterns of leaf variegation are part of a defense strategy employed by
plants to deceive adult leaf miners into thinking that the leaf has already been
preyed-upon.
SCALE
Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as
the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects.
Most scale insects are parasites of plants, feeding on sap drawn directly from
the plant's vascular system.
Scale insects feed on a wide variety of plants, and many scale species are
considered pests. Some types are economically valuable, such as the cochineal,
Polish cochineal and lac scales.
SPIDER MITE
Spider mites are members of the mite family Tetranychidae, which includes
about 1,200 species.
Spider mites are less than 1 millimeter in size and vary in color.
They lay small, spherical, initially transparent eggs and many species spin silk
webbing to help protect the colony from predators; they get the "spider" part
of their common name from this webbing.
SNAIL/SLUG
Slugs and snails are not insects but mollusks* related to oysters, clams, and
other shellfish, and characteristically have
soft, un-segmented bodies, usually protected with a hard calcareous shell.
Thirty-two species of slugs have been recorded in the United States.
Most snails are gray, but their shells vary from white to brown or nearly black
and are often striped or
mottled. The body of a snail consists of the head, neck, visceral hump, tail,
and foot.
WHITEFLY
More than 1550 species have been described. Whiteflies typically feed on the
underside of plant leaves.
The ability of the whitefly to carry and spread disease is the widest impact
they have had on global food production.
Whiteflies feed by tapping into the phloem of plants, introducing toxic saliva
and decreasing the plants' overall turgor pressure.
WHITE GRUB
White grubs, grubworms or curl grubs are the larvae of scarabs. Grubs
commonly attack the roots of turfgrasses and ornamental plants.
Damage first appears as drought stress, such as wilting and drooping.
Heavily infested turf first appears a gray-green off color and wilts in the hot
sun.