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Vegetable Garden Insects Sheet 1
D.E. Short, F.A. Johnson, and J.L. Castner2
- Corn earworms ( Plate 1 ). These caterpillars feed on pods, seeds, fruit and foliage. They vary in color from green to brown, pink, yellow and black, with yellow heads and dark legs. Corn earworms reach 1-1/2" or more when fully mature. They bore into tomato fruit and the silk ends of corn ears, bean pods and pea pods.
- Hornworms ( Plate 2 ). Hornworms feed on eggplants and tomatoes. The caterpillars reach 3-1/2" to 4" in length. They are green with white oblique lines on their sides and a hornlike projection at the rear. Hornworms can be easily removed by hand and destroyed. However, if they become large, they will strip a plant of foliage in a short time.
- Bean leafrollers. These insects feed on members of the bean family. They are easily recognized because they cut the leaf margins in a semicircle, then roll the flap back over themselves ( Plate 3 ). The larvae are bright-yellow and -green, and grow to about 1-1/2" long. The head is large, and the caterpillar has a constricted neck ( Plate 4 ).
- Diamondback moths ( Plate 5 ). Larvae are about 1/3" long when mature, and are pale yellowish-green with scattered black hairs over the body. They tend to be active when disturbed and may drop to the soil on a silken thread. Adult moths are gray, and 1/2" long. The male moth has three yellow diamond-shaped spots on the middle of the back. The larvae feed on cabbage, cauliflower, collards, broccoli and other cole crops.
- Sweetpotato whiteflies ( Plate 6 ). This particular whitefly has become a serious pest during the past several years because it is difficult to control with chemical pesticides. Common host plants include tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, melons, beans, cucumbers and squash. Adult whiteflies are about 1/25" long, and white. The nymphs are found on the undersides of leaves and are light green, flat, oval and about the size of a pinhead. Their feeding causes the leaves to turn pale green or yellow. Whiteflies transmit viruses to several plant species.
- Green stinkbugs ( Plate 7 ). The green species is the most common of the stinkbugs. Adult stinkbugs may reach 2/3" long, and are pale green. Nymphs are green with red, white and black spots on their backs. Stinkbugs do not usually merit control unless they feed on the fruit. They especially damage pods of okra, beans and peas.
- Harlequin bugs ( Plate 8 ). These are colorful stinkbugs about 3/8" long. Their favorite host plants include cabbage, cauliflower, collards, mustard and turnips, but they also feed on many other vegetables.
- Leafminers ( Plate 9 ). Serpentine leafminers are the most common miner in home vegetable gardens. The female fly deposits eggs in the leaf tissue of almost all types of vegetables. Small yellow maggots tunnel between the leaf surfaces, making serpentine or snakelike mines. Leafminers are difficult to control because they are protected between the leaf surfaces.
- Aphids, or plant lice ( Plate 10 ). These insects feed on almost all garden crops. Aphids are 1/32" to 1/8" long, and may be brown, green, yellow, pink or black. They generally feed on young stems and buds, causing leaves to curl and distorting new growth. Aphids sometimes transmit plant viruses.
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Plate 10 . Footnotes
1. This document is SP 92, one of a series of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. This document is available for sale as a high-quality, color publication. For ordering information or to order using VISA or MasterCard, call 1-800-226-1764. Date first printed: June 1991 as ENY-506. Reviewed: June 2005. Please visit the EDIS Website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.2. D.E Short, retired professor; F.A Johnson, district agent/professor; J.L. Castner, scientific photographer; Department of Entomology and Nematology, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611. The term plates, where used in this document, refers to color photographs that can be displayed on screen from EDIS. These photographs are not included in the printed document.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
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