Earwigs are reddish brown with short leathery forewings and a pair of pincers or forceps at the end of the abdomen. Earwigs are about ¾ inch long. They are mostly nocturnal. Earwigs eat seedlings and the tender tips of plants, but they also eat decaying matter and pest insects including aphids and mites. In short, […] More
Cutworms are the larvae of various species of night-flying brown or gray moths. Cutworms chew the tender, young stems, and leaves of almost all vegetable crops. Control cutworms early in the season by handpicking, trapping, or exposing them to predators such as birds. Cutworms feed at night on young plants, usually severing the stem at […] More
The common asparagus beetle adult is a shiny, elongated blue-black beetle with a reddish-brown thorax and four cream-colored spots surrounded by a red border on the wing covers. The adult asparagus beetle is ¼-inch long. The larva is a greenish-gray, wrinkled, humpbacked grub with a dark head about ⅓-inch long. Common asparagus beetle adults and […] More
Cabbage loopers are 1½ inches long caterpillars with two pale white stripes down the back, one on each side. Loopers have legs at the front and back and several more in the middle and so they move with a peculiar humpback or looping crawl. Loopers are the offspring of gray night-flying moths with 1½ to 2-inch wingspans; […] More
The corn earworm—which is also known as the tomato fruitworm and the cotton bollworm—is a caterpillar that eats the fruit and leaves of corn, tomatoes, beans, peppers, squash, lettuce, peas, potatoes, and other crops. Corn earworms also chew tomato fruits from the blossom end, eat into bean pods and nibble lettuce. Earworms also attack okra […] More
Aphids are small, pear-shaped, soft-bodied insects. There are many species of aphids ranging in color from green to pink to black to dusty gray or white with a fluffy coating. Aphids are 1/32 to 1/8 inch in length. Nymphs are similar to adults. Aphids live in colonies. They are slow-moving and usually are found in […] More
The Colorado potato beetle attacks potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes skeletonizing leaves and defoliating plants. Horticultural cloth draped over plants will exclude beetles from reaching plants to lay eggs and feed, diatomaceous earth will destroy larvae, and the botanical poisons pyrethrum and rotenone can kill heavy infestations of adult beetles. However, where Colorado potato beetles […] More
Spittlebugs are the nymphs of insects called froghoppers. Adult froghoppers are small oval- to triangular-shaped insects ¼ to ½ inch in length. The adults can be green, tan, brown, or black. They can jump as much as 100 times their height, giving them the name froghoppers. They can also fly. Many species of froghopper resemble […] More
The flea beetle is a shiny black insect 1/10 of an inch long. Some species have yellow or white curved stripes the length of the body. Flea beetles hop like fleas when disturbed. Flea beetles are particularly attracted to stressed plants; plants that are nutrient weak or underwatered. They also feed on the tender leaves […] More
Stephen Albert