Identiying Garden Insect Pests
There will always be insects in your garden - good and bad. The trick to good gardening is identifying the bad bugs early and letting the good bugs do their thing. A picture is worth a thousand words and these articles and web sites will help you id the good and bad guys.
How Do I Get Rid of Earwigs in My Garden?
How to get rid of earwigs in your garden. While earwigs do feed on plants, the amount of damage they do shouldn’t present a major problem in most gardens. In fact, earwigs even eat aphids, snails and some types of larvae, so it might be a plus that they are there. However, there are times when earwigs can be considered a pest. When that happens,
How to get rid of earwigs in your garden. While earwigs do feed on plants, the amount of damage they do shouldn’t present a major problem in most gardens. In fact, earwigs even eat aphids, snails and some types of larvae, so it might be a plus that they are there. However, there are times when earwigs can be considered a pest. When that happens,
Garden Insect Pests
Plants need insects for pollination, so no garden should be insect free, but there's no denying some insects are garden pests. Learning to identify which insects to worry about and which to welcome is part of the learning process of gardening. Here are a handful of common garden insects. Some are garden pests, some are beneficial and some are just passing through. Always assess the situation before spraying. But when you must treat the problem, the info offered here will be helpful.
Plants need insects for pollination, so no garden should be insect free, but there's no denying some insects are garden pests. Learning to identify which insects to worry about and which to welcome is part of the learning process of gardening. Here are a handful of common garden insects. Some are garden pests, some are beneficial and some are just passing through. Always assess the situation before spraying. But when you must treat the problem, the info offered here will be helpful.
Photo Gallery of Garden Pests
Photos of common garden plants, with brief description of the pest and the damage it can do to plants in the garden.
Photos of common garden plants, with brief description of the pest and the damage it can do to plants in the garden.
Garden Insect Pest Identification Web Sites
When insect pests attack your garden plants, the first line of defense is to identify the insect. To control insects in your garden, you need to know what kind of insect you are dealing with, what plants it favors and what time of year to expect it. These web sites provide photos for identifying pests and most also give info on controlling the garden pests.
When insect pests attack your garden plants, the first line of defense is to identify the insect. To control insects in your garden, you need to know what kind of insect you are dealing with, what plants it favors and what time of year to expect it. These web sites provide photos for identifying pests and most also give info on controlling the garden pests.
Fungus Gnats - Major Pest of New Plant Seedlings
Fungus gnats are more than annoying pests flying around your new plant seedlings and cuttings. Fungus gnats can do serious damage to young plants and should be controlled before their population becomes too large. There are effective biological control measures you can take to detect, deter and control fungus gnats around your growing plants.
Fungus gnats are more than annoying pests flying around your new plant seedlings and cuttings. Fungus gnats can do serious damage to young plants and should be controlled before their population becomes too large. There are effective biological control measures you can take to detect, deter and control fungus gnats around your growing plants.
Japanese Beetle - Controlling Adult Japanese Beetles in the
Japanese beetles can create havoc in a garden by feeding on the leaves of a number of different plants, skeletonizing the leaves and eventually defoliating the plants. An individual Japanese beetle doesn’t do that much damage while feeding on a plant, but they tend to congregate in large numbers and can easily defoliate shrubs and trees.
Japanese beetles can create havoc in a garden by feeding on the leaves of a number of different plants, skeletonizing the leaves and eventually defoliating the plants. An individual Japanese beetle doesn’t do that much damage while feeding on a plant, but they tend to congregate in large numbers and can easily defoliate shrubs and trees.
Lady Bug - Learn to Recognize Lady Beetle (Ladybug) Nymphs
Lady beetle (ladybug) nymphs look creepy, but they are actually one of the more beneficial insects to welcome to your garden. One ladybug nymph will eat about 400 aphids during the 3 weeks before it pupates and thousands once it becomes an adult lady beetle. So take a close look at the picture shown here and learn to recognize ladybug nymphs before your reach for the spray can.
Lady beetle (ladybug) nymphs look creepy, but they are actually one of the more beneficial insects to welcome to your garden. One ladybug nymph will eat about 400 aphids during the 3 weeks before it pupates and thousands once it becomes an adult lady beetle. So take a close look at the picture shown here and learn to recognize ladybug nymphs before your reach for the spray can.
Leaf Galls - Are They Worth Worrying About?
Leaf gall, those alarming bumps that appear to be something suddenly infesting plant leaves, are actually the plant’s defensive response to insects or mites that have been feeding on its foliage. Leaf galls are far less harmful to the tree than their appearance would suggest.
Leaf gall, those alarming bumps that appear to be something suddenly infesting plant leaves, are actually the plant’s defensive response to insects or mites that have been feeding on its foliage. Leaf galls are far less harmful to the tree than their appearance would suggest.
Leafminer Damage to Plants Leaves
If your plant leaves look like someone was doodling squiggly lines, you have leaf miners. Leafminers are the larva of various beetles, flies, moths and sawflies. The adult lays their eggs on the leaf and the larva burrow into the leaf and tunnel through it, feeding and leaving a transparent trail of where they've been. Although leafminers don't often kill a plant, they can make it pretty unsightly. Here are some tips for avoiding or stopping leafminer damage.
If your plant leaves look like someone was doodling squiggly lines, you have leaf miners. Leafminers are the larva of various beetles, flies, moths and sawflies. The adult lays their eggs on the leaf and the larva burrow into the leaf and tunnel through it, feeding and leaving a transparent trail of where they've been. Although leafminers don't often kill a plant, they can make it pretty unsightly. Here are some tips for avoiding or stopping leafminer damage.
Scale Insects - How to Get Rid of Scale Instects
Scale are tiny parasitic insects that adhere to plants and live off the plant’s sap. They look like bumps on the plant’s stem and are often mistaken for a disease. There are some 7,000 species of scale insect, varying in color and size.
Scale are tiny parasitic insects that adhere to plants and live off the plant’s sap. They look like bumps on the plant’s stem and are often mistaken for a disease. There are some 7,000 species of scale insect, varying in color and size.
Spittlebugs
Spittlebugs are so named because the nymph can whip up a frothy covering to protect itself. All you are likely to see of spittlebugs is the foam on a plant leaf or stem joint. Spittlebugs look unsightly, but they don’t really do much damage. To control spittle bugs,
Spittlebugs are so named because the nymph can whip up a frothy covering to protect itself. All you are likely to see of spittlebugs is the foam on a plant leaf or stem joint. Spittlebugs look unsightly, but they don’t really do much damage. To control spittle bugs,
Viburnum Leaf Beetle Pyrrhalta viburni (Paykull) - New Garden Pest
Viburnum were always know for being an exceptionally pest free garden and landscape plant. The imported Viburnum Leaf Beetle (VLB), a native of both Europe and Asia, was first spotted in North America in 1978, in the Ottawa-Hull region of Canada. Since then, it has been making its way south from Canada into the U.S., destroying the flowering shrubs.
Viburnum were always know for being an exceptionally pest free garden and landscape plant. The imported Viburnum Leaf Beetle (VLB), a native of both Europe and Asia, was first spotted in North America in 1978, in the Ottawa-Hull region of Canada. Since then, it has been making its way south from Canada into the U.S., destroying the flowering shrubs.