Sciarid flies

General Sciarid flies constitute the family of Sciaridae. The species that cause most damage to crops belong to the genera Bradysia and Lycoriella . Lycoriella [...] flies The life cycle of sciarid flies has the following stages: egg, four larval instars, a pupal instar, and the adult. The adult insects are 1 to 5 mm [...] They occur the whole year round. The eggs are minute (0.1 to 0.25 mm) and yellowish white in colour. They are laid on the ground surface close to plant roots

Cotton leafworm

caterpillars crawl to the ground and settle in the surface layers. The pupa is 15 to 20 mm long and reddish brown in colour. The forewings of the adult cotton [...] are laid in clusters of 20 to 500 pieces on lower leaf surfaces, often on the lower parts of the plant. The female covers the eggs with brownish-yellow [...] found in Africa, the Canary Islands, the Middle East and parts of Mediterranean Europe including the Balearic Islands, Madeira and the Azores. Life cycle

Leaf miners

lost before the harvest is affected. The size of a leaf tunnel depends on the stage of development of the leaf, the species of host plant and the species of [...] miners belong to the order Diptera (the true flies ) and form the family Agromyzidae. This is a family of small flies whose larvae tunnel into the leaves of [...] enemies, allowing the leaf miner population to erupt into serious numbers. In addition, the pesticides used to control leaf miners disrupt the biological control

Aphids

throughout the world. Aphids form a single, very large group of insects: the super- family Aphidoidea, belonging to the order Hemiptera . The aphids discussed [...] cause damage to plants in several ways, and the damage can vary depending on the species of aphid and the type of plant being attacked. The following are [...] Aphids feed on the sap of plants, which can cause the leaves to turn yellow or become distorted. The damage is often more pronounced on the younger leaves

Diamond back moth

antennae. The hindwings are narrow, pointed toward the apex. The tips of the wings appear to turn upward slightly when viewed from the side. In males, the upper [...] may occur in the florets. Initially, the pupa is pinkish-white to pinkish-yellow and changes to brown before adult emergence. The adult of the diamond back [...] and active. Except for the first instar, which mines in the leaf tissue, the larvae are voracious surface feeders. The pupae of the diamond back moth (Plutella

Common cockchafer

years for the larvae to fully develop. The grubs are 10 to 20 mm in the first autumn, 30 to 35 mm by the following autumn, and 40 to 46 mm in the spring of [...] General The cockchafer ( Melolontha melolontha) , also known as the doodlebug or May bug is a European beetle of the genus Melolontha, in the family S [...] cockchafer The life cycle of the common cockchafer ( Melolontha melolontha ) has the following stages: egg, three larval instars, a pupal instar and the adult

Hemp russet mite

difficult to observe. They are elongated (torpedo-shaped), soft and segmented. The body appears to be divided into two parts: the head with the mouthparts [...] Damage is caused by the mites sucking out the contents of plant cells. Hemp russet mite develops on the stems and petioles of the hemp plant and can cause [...] Aculops cannabicola Hemp russet mite General The hemp russet mite ( Aculops cannabicola ) belongs to the family Eriophyidae (gall and rust mites). It does

Impatiens thrips

cause damage to plants by piercing the cells of the surface tissues and sucking out their contents, causing the surrounding tissue to die. The resulting [...] cultivation, having spread to many countries within the last 30 years. The thrips have mostly been able to spread as a consequence of the trade in foliage plants [...] brown to black in colour with orange pigmentation between the segments, and the dark wings are white at the base. This colouration distinguishes the species

Two-spotted spider mite

cause damage to the host plant by feeding on plant sap. They mainly occur on the underside of leaves where they pierce the cells and suck out the contents [...] contents. The empty dead cells become yellow, and in many plants the damage can also be seen on the upper surface of leaves as small yellow dots. The destruction [...] removed, the leaf, and eventually the whole plant, may die. In tomatoes and cucumbers, as little as 30% damage of the leaf surface can lead to loss of the

Tobacco aphid

of dispersing through the crop by walking. The tobacco aphid tends to form denser colonies, closer to the top of the plant, than the peach potato aphid [...] on the abdomen and several transverse black bands across the body. The antennae are 0.7-1.0 times the body length, reaching to the siphunculi. The body [...] from the plant and disturb the balance of growth hormones. As a result, the plant’s growth is retarded giving rise to deformed leaves or, if the infestation