DAMAGE• Blotch or tunnel in foliage• Leaf drop in late summer• Mainly visual
LEAFMINER• Several hundred species of foliage miners that can be moths,
beetles, flies or sawflies• Larva: 1/8" maggot• Adult: 1/8" mosquito-like
LEAFMINER
CONTROL• Healthy plants tolerate• Resistant cultivars
FUNGAL GNAT• One generation per month• Attracted to moist shade and organic matter
FUNGAL GNAT
HOST• General feeder
• Many feed on organic matter
• More severe in greenhouse potting soil• Potting soil sterile
FUNGAL GNAT
DAMAGE• Larva strips roots• Loss vigor, wilting
FUNGAL GNAT• Severe on propagated cuttings
• Limited roots
FUNGAL GNAT
CONTROL• Clean up debris• Yellow sticky cards for adults• Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis, (Gnatrol)• Drench soil with insecticide• Predatory nematodes
ORDERORTHOPTERA
Grasshoppers, crickets, mantids…
ORTHOPTERA
Orthos: straight
Ptera: wings
Incomplete
Chewing mouthparts
MOLE CRICKET• Southern: carnivore (4 dots)• Tawny: herbivore (plant pest)• Introduced species are problem• Native species not so much
MOLE CRICKET
• HOSTS: Turfgrass• Bermudagrass• Centipdedgrass
MOLE CRICKET
DAMAGE• Eat roots and shoots at night• Disruptive tunnels• Predatory damage
HOSTS• Flower thrips: flowers and buds• Greenhouse thrips: feed openly on foliage
PREDATORY THRIP
THRIPS (139)
DAMAGE• Mostly harmless to woody plantsMostly harmless to woody plants• Stippling and bleaching foliageStippling and bleaching foliage• Dead spots on leavesDead spots on leaves• Tar spots underside of leavesTar spots underside of leaves
THRIPS (139)
THRIPS (139)
THRIPS (139)
MONITOR• Branch beating (paper)• Sticky traps: blue for western flower thrip, yellow for other
species
THRIPS (139)
CONTROL• Maintain plant health to tolerate• Soap and Oil• Predatory wasp release in greenhouse