Invasive Insects in Plants

invasive insects [control and Sollutions ]

In a garden you can find several types of insects. Some insects are destructive. Others are benefactors like the seven-spot ladybird or San Antonio vaquita because they feed on destructive insects. The lion aphid feeds on aphids. Parasitic wasps feed on caterpillars and other insects. mosquito

Insects that attack horticultural plants are divided into three groups: suckers, chewers and borers.

Sucking insects feed on plant juices by absorbing them. The damage manifests itself in yellowing, wilted, and curling leaves and stems.

Chewing insects leave holes in leaves, flowers, or fruit.

Boring insects penetrate plants. These pests bore into the plant stem or mine narrow tunnels within the leaf, fruit, and root.Remember the following two symptoms to diagnose if a plant is affected by a disease or pest. When the insects eat part of a plant they leave holes in the leaves and also leave residue near the place where they fed. This residue can be a sugary syrup, pellets, sawdust-like material, or dark, wet droppings. These symptoms do not manifest when plants contract diseases. Insect-infested plants become stunted or stunted.

destructive insects

description of insects	Crops they attack	Symptoms or damage >
Aphids or plant lice They are less than 1/8 inch long. Soft-bodied and generally wingless. Color from light green to black. They move slowly. It is difficult to discover them on the plant when they are few.	Broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, Irish potato, melon, pumpkin, sweet corn, tomato, watermelon.	curly leaves; sugary secretion on leaves and fruits caused by aphids, turns black due to fungal growth; many very small soft-bodied insects.
Moor bugs They are ½ to 5/8 inch long. Soft bodied. Winged. Black, gray or striped. They move quickly. They usually appear in groups.	Broad beans, Irish potato, tomato.	The stone bug damages foliage by biting into it and secreting a toxin that causes leaf wilting and scalding. If left unchecked, it quickly defoliates the plant.
Cucumber Cucas They are ¼ inch long. They have black and yellow spots or stripes. They feed on leaves, flowers, stems or fruits. They fly from one plant to another.	Cucumber, melon, pumpkin, winter and summer squash, watermelon.	Holes in foliage; chewed flowers; damaged stems and fruits. They transmit bacterial wilt that causes wilting and death of plants.
Cutworms are up to 1 ½ inches long. They are black, gray or speckled caterpillars. A single cutworm is usually found below the surface of the soil at the base of the damaged plant.	Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, kohlrabi, bell pepper, sweet corn, tomato.	Cut or withered plants. Cutworms bite into the plant stem at or just below the surface of the ground. They also feed on ripe tomatoes leaving small, round holes.
Flea beetles Shiny beetles, commonly black in color. They are hard to see because of their size (1/16 inch) and because they jump from plant to plant when disturbed.	Cabbage, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, radish, spinach, sweet corn, turnip.	Flea beetles poke holes or leave white streaks in green foliage in late spring. If it attacks intensely, the leaves wither and dry out and the plant yields less.
Grasshoppers They vary in size, up to an inch and 1/2 long. They are colored in the range from green to brown. They jump or fly. Young individuals are present in early summer and by late summer they transform into large winged adults.	Most vegetables.	Holes in the foliage.
Leaf cicadas reach 3/8 inch in length. They are green. They are wedge shaped. They migrate from one area of ​​the garden to another. They jump to escape along with other specimens when they feel movements in the foliage.	Broad beans, carrot, cucumber, Irish potato, melon.	curly foliage; “grasshopper scald” (caused by grasshopper when feeding, leaves brown marks on edge of leaves). The grasshoppers may have migrated from damaged plants.
Root larvae These are very small (up to 1/8 inch long), white, legless worms. They pierce the vegetables under the ground. They are commonly seen in northern Illinois.	Cabbage, onion, radish, rutabaga, turnip.	Wilted and stunted plants. Numerous brown or gray tunnels through the underground parts of vegetables.
Slugs (shellless garden snails) They range in size up to 2 inches long. They are shiny, soft, sticky and moist. They don’t have legs. You see them during the day.	Most vegetables.	The passage of the slugs is marked by the shiny mucosa. Some bitten foliage and scars on fruit.

Principle of the squash bug attack

To prevent or control insect damage the following practices are recommended. Keep the garden weeded and cut the grass around it. Remove plants that have already borne fruit and use them in compost. Don’t leave them in the garden. Plant the varieties recommended for your area and follow the recommendations for irrigation and fertilization. Use a hose to wet the foliage of the plants and thus drive away some insects such as aphids and spider mites. 

The hornworm and insect eggs can be removed by hand to prevent further damage to plants. Crop rotation serves to keep the population of chewing insects at bay. When shopping for an insecticide, read the label to see if it’s recommended for the insect and plant you want to treat. Follow the instructions in the package. If you use a chemical to control sucking insects, spray the front and back of the leaves. Insecticides are most effective if they are used before plants are attacked by large numbers of insects.

In Brief

Insects can cause significant damage to vegetables, fruits and other plants in the garden. The best way to prevent or control this damage is by using a variety of methods such as keeping the garden clean, removing damaged plants, proper irrigation, fertilization and crop rotation. When treating insect infestations, it is important to read the label carefully to make sure you are using an insecticide that is effective against the particular pest you are trying to control.