Identifying Garden Pests
Garden Insect PestsIdentifying garden pests. Vegetable and flower garden pests with photos to help you identify garden pests and dealing with rose pests and disease. To solve and get rid of any pest problem, you must first indentify the garden pests. On this page you'll find information on the most common garden pests and photos to help with identifying garden pests. Other good sources for diagnostic help include your local rose societies and nurseries specializing in roses
or other plants such as vegetables and tomatoes.
Dealing With Garden Pests
Praying Mantis, A Beneficial InsectInsect pests are a frustrating group of garden dwellers. The majority are beneficial and do no harm. For example Lady Bugs devour Aphids on many plants. Other beneficial insects are Praying Mantis and Lacewings and predatory wasps.
Lacewings A Beneficial InsectOnly a small percentage of insects cause damage, so you need to be aware that in dealing with garden pests and insects, you may also harm beneficial insects.
Wasps And Their Larva Devour Garden PestsThere are several ways to deal with pest problems. Once you notice a pest, closely monitor the situation to see if the insect population is increasing or causing more damage. You can often stop a minor pest infestaion with simple treatments, such as daily blasts with your garden hose nozzle, or handpicking individual insects. Lower impact pest products such as Insecticidal Soap and Neem Oil are effective on a number of insect garden pests.
Common Garden Pests
Apphids, A Common Garden PestAphids, see picture above, are small, soft bodied insects that use their mouths to suck juice from leaves, buds and stem tips. They prefer the new growth best, but can take over a whole rose bush or other favorite plant. They also multiply rapidly and can cause severe pest infestation that will disfigure and ruin flowers and leaves. Aphids also excrete a sticky fluid, called honeydew, that attracts ants. The sticky fluid often becomes covered with a sooty mold, a black fungus. Check for aphids regularly and blast them off with your garden nozzle. For very heavy infestations, treat with
insecticidal soap. Repeat if necessary.
Caterpillar, A Common Garden PestCaterpillars are most often spotted on plants at night. So take your flashlight and a bucket of soapy water and do an inspection tour of the plants in your garden. Caterpillars leave behind round or irregular holes in leaves and buds of roses and other plants, and may chew off entire leaves and buds. To treat, spray infected plants every seven days with Bacillus Thuringiensis, until gone.
Japanese Beetles, A Garden Pest Common To The US East CoastIdentifying garden pests such as Japanese Beetles is easy, because their green and shiny copper colored wings.They eat the foilage of many ornamental plants, and roses are a favorite. They often skeletonize leaves, eating everything except the midrib and veins. Japanese Beetles are mostly found in the Eastern part of United States, but can be found in nearby states also. Japanese beetles are best treated in the larva stage, a white grub that lives in the soil of lawns and also does
damage to lawns. There are several biological controls available. Check with your garden centers.
Spidermites A Tiny Common Garden PestGarden Pests such as Spidermites are Arachnids, related to spiders, but like insects can be serious garden pests. Spidermites pierce cells on the underside of leaves and suck out the fluids. They most often start on new foilage, but they can spread to cover the entire plant, which will kill it. Hot, dry weather favors their infestation. Identifying garden pests like Spidermites can be hard, since they are barely visible to the naked eye. Spraying the underside of rose leaves
or other leaves they infest, daily with a blast of water may reduce their numbers. In fact if you catch them
early, it often takes care of it. So inspect your plants often. They go for indoor plants as well. You
can also use insecticidal soap or Neem oil.
Enlarged Photo Of Thrips PestsThrips are tiny insects that use their rasping mouth parts to feed on plant juices. Thrips are especially damaging to rose buds and flowers. Identifying garden pests such as thrips takes a bit of practice. Severe Thrip infestations will deform buds and cause the failure to open. Thrips also do damage to foilage, especially the new growth. They feed on many plants including grass, so they can be hard to catch and treat. Monitor your roses often for signs of damage. Collect a rose flower, and shake it over a white paper. Thrips will appear as tiny yellow-brown flecks moving across the paper. Because they hide inside buds and flowers, they are hard to treat. So prune off and destroy Thrip-infested
flowers and buds.
Vegetable Garden Pests
Hornworm, A Vegetable Garden PestIdentifying garden pests such as hornworms is easy. These guys have eyes that actually look at you. They get big and fat and often take on the color of their food. In the picture above the Hornworm is chowing down newly formed bell peppers. They also like tomatoes and cucumbers. Come to think of it, they like all vegetables. The best way is to inspect your vegetable patch often and hand pick them off. They mostly come out at ningt, so that's the time to take action against these garden pests.
More Garden Pests Photos
Potato Beetle Pest
Mealybug Pest
Leafcutting Bee PestGo To Garden Insect Pest Information
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