Bedding Plant Pests and Their Control

Budworms on Flowering Tobacco (see also: Colorado Potato Beetle and tobacco hornworm)

Evidence of budworms: feeding hole in a flower of flowering tobacco flower bud and feeding damage to flower.

Budworm larva and feeding damage on flowering tobacco.

A handful of budworm larvae in different stages of development and with different colors.

Budworms that may be either the tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens) or the corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea), which also feeds on tobacco, on nicotiana plants in the unsprayed field.

Bedding Plant Pests-Top

Bedding Plant Pests and Their Control

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Click on the dragonfly to learn more about the species.

Pests

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Pests

Pests and Beneficial Organisms

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Pests and Beneficial Arthropods of All Kinds Observed in Our Trials

The arthropod and disease pests found here should not necessarily be viewed as an indication that a crop is not manageable. Many pests are controlled naturally by beneficial arthropods (insects, mites and other organisms) and beneficial diseases and nematodes that attack plant pests, all utilized by the professional or informed homeowner employing integrated pest management (IPM). Many pests may be present during the lifetime of the crop, but may not render the crop unacceptable in appearance. Refer to Articles, Papers & Reports for performance and to university recommendations found on this page and other web links, as well as your county extension service for control of these pests.

For pictures and more information, click on:
Focus on Arthropods	Focus on Disease	Focus on Other Pest Animals

Click on a subject below for some websites with sources of information on related topics, or scroll down the page for even more information.

Insects	Bacteria	Mites	Fungi	Nematodes	Virus	Slugs/Snails/Other	Pest Resources
Click on a link below:	Click on a link below:	Click on a link below:	Click on a link below:	Click on a link below:	Click on a link below:	Click on a link below:	Click on a link below:
U. of Florida	U. of Idaho	U. of Florida	U. of Georgia	U. of Nebraska	The VIDE (Virus Identification Data Exchange) Project	U. of Florida	U. Bonn, Germany
(Featured Creatures)	Information and assistance with plant pathogenic bacteria	(Featured Creatures)	Fungal Library	Plant and Insect Parasitic Nematodes	Plant Viruses Online	(Featured Creatures)	The Plant Pathology Internet Guide Book
U. of Virginia				U. of Nebraska
(Insect Pests of Ornamental Plants Slide Show)				What are Nematodes?
USDA
Systematic Entomology Laboratory

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Click on: Links to Publications on Pests and Their Control for more information.

New Insect Order Found in Southern Africa

The National Geographic

The BBC

Scientific American

EurekAlert!

Sciencexpress - Report (PDF file)

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Focus on: Arthropods

What's an arthropod? Click on the gators:
	Basic Entomology Tutorial from North Carolina State University	Dr. D. J. Shetlar’s Course on Insects of Ornamentals from Ohio State University		Arthropoda The Tree of Life Web Project
Insect information and classification:	Iziko Museums of Cape Town.
Arthropods:	BugGuide.Net.		"An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information." (Troy Bartlett--BugGuide)

ROK

Information on insect orders and families:

University of Florida Dept. of Entomology & Nematology.

Beneficial Arthropods

Click on: the beneficial or pest arthropod name found below to view pictures and access information links, or scroll down the page.
Aphid parasites.	Assassin bug feeding on wasp.	Friend or foe? A true bug on treasure flower and flowering tobacco.	Jumping Spider with pray.	Lady beetles.
Parasite on Io Moth Larva .	Parasites of lepidopterous larvae also found on celosia, black-eyed-Susan and zinnia.	Hover Fly larvae feeding on aphids.	New insect order.	University of Florida Entomology and Nematology Department

Links to University of Florida publications with pictures of these animals by D.E. Short, F.A. Johnson and J.L. Castner:	Beneficial Insects Sheet 1	Beneficial Insects Sheet 2	Beneficial Insects Sheet 3	Beneficial Insects Sheet 4
Click on: Links to Publications on Pests and Their Control for more information.

Arthropod Pests
Aphids	Armyworms	Budworms	Cabbage Webworm		Crane Fly
Colorado Potato Beetle	Cucumber beetle	Cotton Stainer	Diamondback Moth		Grasshopper
Granulate Cutworm	Leafminers	Leaffotted Bug	Leafroller on these crops:		Leaftier
			Canna	Irsene
Lifecycle-Lepidoptera (Monarch Butterfly)	Loopers	Search for: Insect Orders and Families in Featured Creatures	Spider Mites		Stink Bugs
Thrips	Tobacco Hornworm	Whitefly

What is it? Looks are deceiving. This insect resembles a wasp, but it really is a moth; and though it is not a bedding plant pest, it is a pest on an ornamental plant. Click on the gator to learn more:

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Focus on: Other Animal Pests


Birds	Cows (yes, cows!)	Slugs

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Focus on: Diseases

Disease Pests
Bacteria
Xanthomonas Leaf Spot

xxx

Fungi
Alternaria	Colletotrichum	Choanephora flower blight	Fusarium	Graymold
Myrothecium Leaf Spot	Powdery Mildew	Pythium Damping-off and Root Rot	Rhizoctonia	Rusts
Soilborne Pathogens of Geranium

Virus
On Sunflower

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Focus on: Arthropods

Beneficial Arthropods

Jumping Spiders - Class: Arachnida; Order: Araneae; Family: Salticidae

A female gray wall jumping spider (Menemerus bivittatus) captures a fly.

Other views of a female gray wall jumping spider.

A male gray wall jumping spider.

Salticidae (Araneae) of the World - Click on the "GatorWeb"

What is the world's largest spider? Click on the spider above.

Spider Publications - Click on the "GatorWeb"

Common Florida spiders.

Poisonous spiders in Florida.

University of Florida Featured Creatures: Spiders.

Spider classification.

The arachnology home page.

Scroll down to see more beneficial arthropods. Scroll down to see more beneficial arthropods.

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Beneficial Arthropods

Braconids - Order: Hymenoptera; Family: Braconidae


Parasite pupae on the surface of an Io Moth lava.
Below: white cocoons of parasites [Insecta: Hymenoptera: Braconidae] of lepidopterous larvae on various crops in our spring trials.

Plant: Zinnia violacea (formally Z. hybrida) in the unsprayed field (spring 2004).	Showing openings in empty pupal cases. Plant: Rudbeckia hirta in the unsprayed field (spring 2004).	Plant: Celosia argentia [spicata group] in the unsprayed field (spring 2004).
Click on the gator next to the parasitized worm for more information on braconids:

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Beneficial Arthropods

Assassin Bugs - Order: Hemiptera; Family: Reduviidae


A species of assassin bug (Zelus longipes) in the family Reduviidae [assassin and thread-legged bugs)] feeding on a wasp. Wheel bugs belong to another group in this family, identified by the semicircular toothed pronotum (shield-like segment behind the head) resembling a cogwheel. Zelus spp. do not have this feature.		Friend or foe? Unidentified immature (nymph) true bugs on treasure flower (Gazania) foliage and a flowering tobacco (Nicotiana) flower. Are they beneficial insects or pests? Based on the wide, flattened leaf-like hind tibia [lower leg segment on the metathoractic (third set) legs], it could be a young leaf-footed plant bug--possibly Leptoglossus sp.--a plant pest in the family Coreidae.

Click on the gator/bug to see pictures of Zelus longipes.		Click on the gator/bug to see pictures of other assassin bug species.

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Beneficial Arthropods

Hover Fly - Order: Diptera; Family: Syrphidae


Hover fly, syrphid, or flower fly.	Close-up of larva feeding on Oleander aphids [Aphis nerii] on milkweed.


Hover fly larva forming a pupa.	A pupa hidden in milkweed flowers.


Adults (~ 1.2 cm long) that emerged from the pupae shown above.		An adult (possibly a male - eyes are holoptic) from another species (Allograpta obliqua) resting on a flower and juniper bush.

Click on the gator to find out more.

And so the story goes...there's usually a bigger fish after the fish that's after the fish. The same is true in the world of insects. The hover fly larva is after the aphid, but what about the hover fly? Click on the fish to find out what parasite hunts the hover fly. And that's not all. Click on the gator below to see an assassin bug feeding on a paper wasp, also an insect predator that feeds on insects that feed on plants.

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Beneficial Arthropods

Beetles - Order: Coleoptera; Family: Coccinellidae


Pupa of lady beetle [Cycloneda sanguinea (L.)?].	Adult lady beetle [Cycloneda sanguinea (L.)?].

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Arthropod Pests

Classes shown here: Arachnida (mites) and Insecta (insects)

Search for insect orders and families in Featured Creatures (University of Florida Dept. of Entomology & Nematology) by clicking on the gator:

Scroll down to see more arthropod pests. Scroll down to see more arthropod pests.

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Class: Arachnida

Mites - Order: Acari; Family: Tetranychidae


Twospotted spidermites on African marigold (Tagetes patula)	Mites and mite eggs on gazania (G. rigens)

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Class: Insecta

Grasshoppers - Order: Orthoptera; Family: Acrididae

Another pest observed on hibiscus is the shorthorned grasshopper :
	A nymph and adult (on white plastic mulch) of unidentified species, most likely the American grasshopper (Schistocerca americana; June 2005). The adult was very hard to approach to photograph, flying off when six feet away.	Damaged hibiscus foliage attributed to the grasshopper June 28, 2005.	Damaged hibiscus foliage with grasshopper nymph present July 3, 2005.

Damage to flowers:

Cucumber beetle also causes damage to hibiscus. Click on the gator to view this pest: See also: cotton stainer bug:

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Thrips - Order: Thysanoptera; Family: Thripidae

Pansies and Viola

Symptoms of flower thrips feeding on dark blue and red/yellow pansies.

Symptoms of flower thrips feeding on yellow and orange pansies.

Symptoms of flower thrips feeding on bicolored violas.

No symptoms of flower thrips feeding scars were seen on white or white with blotch color patterns, despite the presence of the dark purple in the blotch, a color that would be attacked in a solid purple flower.

No flower thrips feeding scar symptoms were observede on the Beaconsfield color pattern of white cap petals with dark blue-violet face. Also, no sign of feeding scar symptoms were seen on black flowers.

Heartwing sorrel (Rumex hastatulus) was found to be full of thrips. This weed is very common, ranging from central Florida to Massachusetts.

Zinnia


Thrips sp. from bedding plant flower.	Thrips damage on young Zinnia elegans flower in early spring. Pansies shown above were still in the field in rows adjacent to this plant.	Thrips damage to flower petals.

Click on the gator for information about thrips:

Thrips species on ornamental plants - University of Florida.	Detailed information about thrips species from Glades Crop Care.	Greenhouse management - IPM of Alaska.

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"Worms" - Lepidopterous Larvae and Adults

Key to Most Common Caterpillars Found on Flowers and Foliage Plants - North Carolina State University

Order: Lepidoptera; Family: Hesperiidae

Leafroller on Canna

Severely damaged leaf.	Damaged leaf tied together.	The exposed larvae (note white points of attachment for silk for rolling leaf).
Damage from the larger canna leafroller (Calpodes ethlius (Stoll) on Canna ×generalis foliage was not seen in our field trials, but was serious in planters placed next to a brick wall with a southern exposure with night lighting. Click on gator to see another leafroller on iresine:
To distinguish leafrollers from leaftiers, click on the gator:

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Order: Lepidoptera; Family: Unidentified

Leaftier on Globe-Amaranth

Damaged leaves tied together.	The exposed larva.		Pupa.
Damage from leaftier to the foliage of Gomprena globosa (globe-amaranth) was minor. For diseases on this crop, click on the gator:
To distinguish leafrollers from leaftiers, click on the gator:		To view leafrollers, click one of the gators:

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Order: Lepidoptera; Family: Noctuidae

Armyworms, Budworms and Loopers

Ageratum looper adult3-VT-Sp02.jpg (323380 bytes)

VT-Sp03-126Bworm feed.JPG (261138 bytes)

13Dplant2J6-VT-W-03-04-BAW-Fo1.JPG (283528 bytes)

13Dplant2J6-VT-W-03-04-BAW-larva3.JPG (302044 bytes)

Pansy-VT-W0304-pestJ4-Southern AW5.JPG (240471 bytes)

Adults that emerged from larvae of a looper species that fed on ageratum foliage.

Armyworm and looper damage on French marigold.

Armyworm feeding on Phlox foliage.

Beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua) infesting dianthus hybrid.

Views of a larva believed to be beet armyworm. The specimen at bottom with green arrow pointing to a black spot found on the mesothorax (body segment containing the second pair of legs).

Southern armyworm (Spodoptera eridania) feeding on a pansy flower.

Fall armyworm also can be found on flowers, but prefers vegetable and ornamental grasses. Click on the gator to find out more about this species.

Beet Armyworm and Granulate Cutworm on Cupflower and Sweet Alyssum
Crops such as cupflower (Nierembergia hippomanica) and sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) for a carpet of foliage and flowers. Uppon lifting the foliage mats, these insects can be found sheltered by the foliage and feeding on it.
Cupflower			Sweet Alyssum

Cupflower with worm damage.	Beet Armyworm.	Lifting up the mat of foliage, granulate cutworm on cupflower.	Sweet alyssum with worm damage.	Lifting up the mat of foliage, granulate cutworm on sweet alyssum.

To find out more about cutworms, click on the gator.