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Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) Commonly known as Vine Weevil or Black Vine Weevil. Adults of this beetle are about 1 cm long, and light grey-brown in colour with paler marks. They cause a characteristic notch in the leaves of ornamental plants when they feed. The beetles are nocturnal, and hide during the day, so that damage [...]

Leafminer (Agromyzidae) Adult female leaf-miners produce characteristic feeding marks on leaves, and lay eggs into some of these. The solitary larvae of these flies feed within the leaf, leaving trails or ‘mines’ which grow rapidly in length and width. In serious cases the leaf area is reduced enough to affect crop yield, whilst in ornamental crops [...]

Broad Mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) These tiny mites can cause immense damage to plants, and yet are difficult to see, and often not present on the leaves that show the damage symptoms. This is because they occur in the very middle of the growing point of the plant, where new leaves are being formed but have not [...]

Russet Mite (Aceria anthocoptes) This minute mite forms huge colonies on the stems of tomato or aubergine plants, which show up as a ‘rust-coloured’ mass which spreads along the stem. Aculops lycopersici belongs to the family Eriophyidae, which are characteristically tiny and ‘worm-like’ in appearance. Other species in the same family cause russetting on apples and [...]

Soil Pests / Sciarids (Sciaridae) Several species of Sciarid Fly can cause problems, but the most commonly encountered seems to be Bradysia paupera. The related Lycoriella spp are also known as pests in mushroom cultivation. Adults are commonly seen around potted plants in the home and in offices, where they are sometimes mistaken for midges. [...]

Whitefly (Aleyrodidae) The adult Glasshouse Whitefly holds its wings in a tent-like fashion over the body, hiding the body and giving it a triangular outline. This is in contrast to Bemisia tabaci, adults of which hold the wings alongside the body, revealing the yellow body colour and giving them an elliptical profile. Adults of T. vaporariorum generally settle on [...]

Aphids (Aphidoidea) Aphids are specialised feeders on plant sap. They insert their tubular mouthparts into the transport vessels on plant leaves, stems or roots, and feed on the sap which flows there. Because this sap is rich in sugars but poor in the other nutrients which aphids need, they excrete large amounts of excess sugars as [...]

Thrips (Thysanoptera) Frankliniella occidentalis– known as Western Flower Thrips or Californian Thrips, is a small insect originating on the West Coast of North America, which spread through much of Europe in the 1980’s as a consequence of the international trade in plants. It is now established as a major pest in most parts of the [...]

Spider Mite (Tetranychus urticae) Red or Two-Spotted Spider-Mites (Tetranychus urticae) feed by puncturing cells and draining the contents, producing a characteristic yellow speckling of the leaf surface. They also produce silk webbing which is clearly visible at high infestation levels. At very high infestation levels, reddish-brown masses of mites can be seen hanging from the [...]

Biocontrols For Your Cucumber Crop The most common pests that affect greenhouse cucumber crops are thrips, two spotted spidermites, whiteflies and black melon aphids. Other pest problems that occur are Loopers/Catepillars, lygus and cucumber beetles. BCA’s are excellent in preventing pest populations from getting established when they are released early in the crop cycle, ideally [...]