Weevils are oval, brownish-gray or black, flightless, hard-shelled beetles about ⅓-inch long with a pronounced snout. Weevil larvae are plump, white grubs up to ½-inch long with yellowish-brown heads. Adult weevils chew on leaf edges leaving small scalloped bite marks. Larvae are soil-dwelling and feed on plant roots. Weevil-chewed leaves do little harm to plants, […] More
Adult tarnished plant bugs are oval and small, just ¼ inch big. They are brown mottled with yellow, bronze, or reddish marks and each forewing is black-tipped with a yellow triangle. Tarnished plant bug nymphs are yellow-green and wingless, somewhat similar to adults in appearance. Tarnished plant bug eggs are yellow and long and curved. […] More
The squash vine borer is a wrinkled, cream-colored caterpillar with a brown head, about 1 to 2 inches long. The adult form of the vine borer is a narrow-winged olive-brown moth with a 1- to 1½-inch wide wingspan. The moth has fringed hind legs, a red abdomen with black rings, and translucent wings. It is […] More
Adult and young squash bugs suck the juices from leaves causing leaves to wilt, dry up, and turn brown. Squash bugs commonly attack plants in the cucumber and squash family. Adult female squash bugs lay eggs from spring through midsummer on the stems and undersides of leaves. The orange-yellow to bronze eggs are elliptical and […] More
Tomato hornworms are green caterpillars up to 4½ inches long with a black horn protruding from the tail and eight V-shaped white marks along the side. A related hornworm is a tobacco hornworm with a red horn on the tail and seven white diagonal lines with a black border. Hornworms feed on leaves, stems, and fruit […] More
The cucumber beetle is an oblong greenish-yellow beetle with black spots or stripes on its wing covers. The cucumber beetle is about ¼ inch long. Cucumber beetles feed mainly on members of the cucurbit family—cucumbers, melons, and squashes—and also asparagus, early beans, corn, eggplant, peas, potatoes, and tomatoes. They attack seedlings feeding on young shoots […] More
Leafhoppers are wedge-shaped, slender, greenish, yellow, or brown translucent winged insects 1/10 to ½ inch long. Nymph leafhoppers are pale green wingless insects but otherwise look like adult leafhoppers. Leafhoppers have piercing mouthparts and suck the sap from many leafy crops such as lettuce and endive but they also attack potatoes and tomatoes. Good Products […] More
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
Stephen Albert