Cotton Aphid, or Aphis gossypii, is one of the more common insect pests found in almost all vegetable crops and gardens. They vary significantly in body size and color (from bright yellow, green and dirty brown olive), and adults may have transparent wings or wingless. Damage cause by Cotton Aphids Cotton aphid infestations may result [...]
Resistance to chemicals is due to the intense selection pressure exerted on the population that is controlled. There is only a limited number of chemicals that are effective to control pests and diseases. This causes a high intensity selection pressure with limited products with the result that evolution is set in overdrive mode. Traits resistant [...]
Description Thrips tabaci and western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis are sap feeders. Common thrips as in the main image; Order: Thysanoptera, Family: Thripidae. They are extremely small and are difficult to spot, even by experts. They are experts in blending in and are shorter than 1.5mm. There are about 4500 species of thrips. Both winged and [...]
Plusia looper description Plusia looper, also known as Cabbage looper or more correctly Trichoplusia ni are light green caterpillars with white or pale yellow stripes along the sides. It typically moves by arching the middle part of its body upward. The adult moth is active at night (about 1 ½ inches or 3.8 - 4.0 [...]
Bollworm description Bollworm, also known as tomato fruit worm or American Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, are small caterpillars (about 30mm long, slightly more than 1 inch) that have prominent rows of dark bumps on their backs. Mature worm's colour varies from dark grey to light brown and have lengthwise stripes on their bodies. The adult form [...]
Sweet potato whitefly description Sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci, order Hemiptera and family Aleyrodidae) is a sap feeder. The adults are about 4-5mm long with a pale yellow body. The sweet potato whitefly can easily be identified by their red compound eyes. When feeding their wings are slightly apart creating a shallow "V" shape. The [...]
Insect screens or thermal screens are designed to reduce heat in summer and increase temperatures during the night, but also to reduce the number of insects entering the production area. Various designs are available and each type is designed to keep certain insects out by varying the size of the holes and thickness of the material. All insect [...]
