Important Insect Plant Pests and their Hosts in Florida (Vegetable Crops)

Kirk W. Martin CBSPUSDA-National Needs Fellow

Graduate Student-University of Florida Plant Medicine Program andIPM Apprentice-IPM Florida

Denise D. Thomas D.P.M.University of Florida Plant Medicine Program and IPM

Florida

Banded Cucumber Beetle - Diabrotica balteata

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva (instars) Egg

5-6 mm Up to 9 mm 0.6 mm x 0.4 mm

Yellow-margined Leaf Beetle - Microtheca ochroloma Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

5 mm Five instars

Pepper Weevil - Anthonomus eugenii

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva(instars)

Egg

2-3.5 mm Up to 5 mm 0.5 mm x 0.4 mm

White-fringed Beetle - Naupactus (=Graphognathus) spp.

Fruit & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

12 mm 12 mm(Pupa)

0.9 mm x 0.6 mm

White Grubs - Phyllophaga spp.

Vegetable, Fruit, Turf, Tree, Ornamental & Field Crop Pest

Adult Larva Egg

17-21 mm Three instars 2.4 mm x 1.5 mm

Diaprepes Root Weevil - Diaprepes abbreviatus

Fruit, Ornamental, Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

9-15 mm 6-18 instarsUp to 20 mm

1.2 mm x 0.4 mm

American Serpentine Leafminer - Liriomyza trifolii

Vegetable, Ornamental & Field Crop Pest

Adult Larva Egg

2 mm Up to 3 mm 1.0 mm x 0.2 mm

Cornsilk Fly - Euxesta stigmatias

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

4 mm Up to 5 mm 0.9 mm x 0.2 mm

Darkwinged Fungus Gnat - Bradysia spp.

Ornamental & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

3 mm Up to 6 mm

Brown Stink Bug - Euschistus servus

Field Crop, Fruit & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

11-15 mm Five instarsUp to 10 mm

1.4 mm x 1.2 mm

Southern Green Stink Bug - Nezara viridula

Ornamental, Field Crop, Fruit & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

13-17 mm Five instarsUp to 10 mm

1.3 mm x 0.9 mm

Harlequin Bug - Murgantia histrionica

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

8-12 mm Five to six instars

1.3-1.4 mm

Silverleaf Whitefly - Bemisia argentifolii or Bemisia tabaci

Field Crop, Ornamental & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

1 mm Four instarsUp to 1 mm

0.2 mm

Green Peach Aphid - Myzus persicae

Ornamental, Field Crop, Vegetable & Fruit Pest

Adult Larva Egg

2 mm Five instars 0.6 mm x .3 mm

Cabbage Aphid - Brevicoryne brassicae

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

2 mm Four instars 0.7 mm x 0.2 mm

Melon Aphid - Aphis gossypii

Ornamental, Field Crop, Vegetable & Fruit Pest

Adult Larva Egg

1-2 mm Up to 1 mm None

Potato Aphid - Macrosiphum euphorbiae

Ornamental & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

2-4 mm Four instarsUp to 2 mm

None

Leaf-footed Bug - Leptoglossus phyllopus

Ornamental, Field Crop, Fruit & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

2-3 cm

Squash Bug - Anasa tristis

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

14-16 mm Five instarsUp to 10 mm

1.5-1.1 mm

Garden Fleahopper - Halticus bractatus

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

7 mm 5 instars 0.7 mm x 0.2 mm

Red Imported Fire Ant - Solenopsis invicta

Animal, Nuisance, Vegetable & Field Crop Pest

Adult Larva Egg

2-6 mm Four instarsUp to 2 mm

0.2 mm x 0.3 mm

Bean Leafroller - Urbanus proteus

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

50 mm (Wingspan)

Five instars2-30 mm

1.0 x 0.8 mm

Armyworm - Pseudaletia unipuncta

Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

4 cm Up to 3.5 cm 0.5 mm

Granulate Cutworm - Agrotis subterranea

Ornamental, Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

38-45 mm (Wingspan)

Seven instarsUp to 37 mm

0.6- 0.7 mm

Southern Armyworm - Spodoptera eridania

Ornamental, Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

33-38 mm (Wingspan)

Six instarsUp to 35 mm

0.5 mm

Beet Armyworm - Spodoptera exigua

Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

25-30 mm (Wingspan)

Five instarsUp to 22 mm

Fall Armyworm - Spodoptera frugiperda

Turf, Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

32-40 mm (Wingspan)

Six instarsUp to 34 mm

0.4 mm

Yellow Striped Armyworm - Spodoptera ornithogalli

Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

34-41 mm (Wingspan)

Six instarsUp to 35 mm

0.5 mm

Cabbage Looper - Trichoplusia ni

Ornamental, Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

33-38 mm (Wingspan)

30-40 mm 0.6 mm

Imported Cabbageworm - Pieris rapae

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

45-65 mm (Wingspan)

Five instarsUp to 30 mm

0.5 mm x 1.0 mm

Diamondback Moth - Plutella xylostella

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

6 mm Four instarsUp to 11 mm

0.44 x 0.26 mm

Cross-striped Cabbageworm - Evergestis rimosalis

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

25 mm Four instarsUp to 17 mm

1.2 mm x 0.9 mm

Lesser Cornstalk Borer - Elasmopalpus lignosellus

Field Crop & Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

17-22 mm (Wingspan)

Six instarsUp to 16 mm

0.6 x 0.4 mm

Melonworm - Diaphania hyalinata

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

2.5 cm Five instarsUp to 16 mm

0.7 x 0.6 mm

Pickleworm - Diaphania nitidalis

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

3 cm (Wingspan) Five instarsUp to 15 mm

0.4 mm x 0.6 mm

Tobacco Hornworm - Manduca sexta

Vegetable & Field Crop Pest

Adult Larva Egg

10 cm(Wingspan)

Five or six instarsUp to 8 cm

1.5 mm

Western Flower Thrips - Frankliniella occidentalis

Ornamental, Vegetable & Field Crop Pest

Adult Larva Egg

Up to 2 mm 0.25 mm

Melon Thrips - Thrips palmi

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

Up to 1 mm

Florida Flower Thrips - Frankliniella bispinosa

Fruit, Vegetable & Field Crop Pest

Adult Larva Egg

1 mm

Broad Mite - Polyphagotarsonemus latus

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

minute

Two-spotted Spider Mite - Tetranychus urticae

Ornamental, Vegetable, Field Crop & Fruit Pest

Adult Larva Egg

minute

Tomato Russet Mite - Aculops lycopersici

Vegetable Pest

Adult Larva Egg

minute

Many thanks to those that contributed to this project

Photographs by:– Lyle Buss, UF Entomology and

Nematology– Dr. Paul Choate, UF Entomology and

Nematology– Dr. John Capinera, Chair, UF Entomology

and Nematology– Dr. Norman Leppla, Director IPM

Florida, UF Entomology and Nematology

– Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University - Dept., Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management , Bugwood.org

– John Folz,, Emeritus Faculty, UF Entomology and Nematology

Photographs by:– Dr. Russ Ottens, University of Georgia,

Bugwood.org– Tracy Conklin, UF Entomology and

Nematology– Larry Williams, Okaloosa County

Extension – Natasha Wright, Florida Department of

Agriculture and Consumer Services, Bugwood.org

– Dr. James Castner, UF Entomology and Nematology

– Dr. Wayne Dixon, Florida Division of Plant Industry

– USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, Southern Region

Many thanks to those that contributed to this project

– Dr. Norman Leppla, Director-IPM Florida, UF Entomology and Nematology

– Dr. Jennifer Gillett-Kaufman, Associate Director IPM Florida, UF Entomology and Nematology

– Lyle Buss, UF Entomology and Nematology– Joyce Merritt, Publications Specialist, IPM

Florida and Plant Medicine Program– Kevyn Juneau, Research Assistant IPM

Florida, UF Entomology and Nematology

Contributors:

References• Capinera, J.L., 2001 Handbook of Vegetable Pests. Academic Press: San Diego• Hodges, A., Hodges, G., Buss, L., Osborne, L., 2005 Mealybugs& Mealybug Look-Alikes of the

Southeastern United States• Stehr, F.W. 1987. Immature Insects. Volumes I and II. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company • C. Malcolm Beck and John Howard Garrett, 2005 Texas Bug Book

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Revised Edition. University of Texas Press: Austin, TX.• Short, D.E., Simone, G.W., Dunn, R.A. (Eds.), 2001 Commercial Ornamental Nursery Scouting

Manual. Department of Entomology and Nematology, Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida: Gainesville, FL.