Insects, Mites, Flies and Other Living Pests
Always be watchful for pest infestations. Treat them early. Severe or chronic infestations should be referred to your supervisor. Here are some of the most common insect-type pests found in interiorscapes.
Note: Always clean any tool that comes in contact with the soil or plant material infected by any pest. Wash your hands frequently. These infestations can easily spread.
- Aphids are soft-bodied, pear-shaped insects, about 4 to 8 mm in size. They are highly visible and congregate in groups at the growing tips of plants. They range in color from yellow to green to black and are usually wingless. They carry viral diseases and cause sooty mold which grows on their waste product, honeydew. Infested plants become chlorotic and exhibit curled or wilted leaves.
- Fungus gnats are slender, long-legged, tiny mosquito-like insects, belonging to the order Diptera (like the common housefly). The larvae live in moist soil and feed on organic matter and roots. Adult flyers live only a day or two but the larvae can live up to two weeks. Fungus gnats can be controlled with applications of Scanmask to the top two or three inches of soil. Infested plants have yellow leaves and exhibit no other visible signs of damage.
- Mealy bugs are light colored, usually whitish, elongate-oval insects whose bodies are covered with a waxy secretion. They are usually visible before leaf damage is apparent. They are highly visible as they can be up to ¼ inch long. They suck sap, and like aphids and scale, produce a waste substance called honeydew, which causes sooty mold. If they are not controlled, leaves will begin to turn yellow, wilt, and abscise. Mealy can also infest the soil resulting in stunted growth.
- Mites are arthropods, which are closely related to spiders. They have eight legs, an oval body, and are difficult to see without a hand lens. Eggs are visible as tiny white dots on the undersurface of the leaf. In severe infestations, they form miniature webs. Infested plants will exhibit mottled foliage, leaf drop, curled leaves, and deformed buds. In many cases, leaves will have a silvery speckled appearance due to the absence of chlorophyll cells that the mites have eaten. The under surface of the leaf will look dusty. Indoor foliage plants are most frequently troubled by either the red or the two-spotted brown spider varieties of mites. They thrive in hot, dry conditions and if not controlled in the early stages can destroy an interiorscape. One female can produce over 12 million offspring at 80° F.
- Nematodes are round worms which feed on roots or foliage causing symptoms similar to brown and black bacterial leaf spots on the undersides of leaves. (These are not the same species as those found in Scanmask.) Adults can live in desiccated tissue for as long as three years during which time leaves become necrotic and wilt. They produce lesions and galls on roots and stems and can stunt growth. They are very small and the only control is by means of nematicide drenches which must be done by Special Services only. Plants are usually destroyed to prevent spreading.
- Scale are wingless, legless insects with a waxy or scale-like covering. There are about 20 species known to infest foliage plants with soft, brown scale being the most common. Scale are difficult to kill in their adult stage and a systemic soil drench, such as Neem Oil, is often necessary to control them.
- Thrips are small, slender insects, that have sucking mouth parts to rasp and shred new tissue; some are winged. Infested plants exhibit a silvery stippled appearance, tightly curled leaves with a rusty coloring, yellowing and leaf drop. Minute black or brown specks, (thrips’ excrement), appear on plant surfaces.
- Whitefly is a flying white insect about 1/8 inch long, which sucks sap and produces a waste product called honeydew which attracts ants. Symptoms of infestation are deformed foliage, chlorosis, and stippling. They respond well to yellow pest strips because they are attracted to the bright color yellow.
