Magazine - UNDERSTANDING THE TOP TEN GARDEN PESTS
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By Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in Tip of the Day on 16th Jan 2012 14:25
The Royal Horticultural Society has released its top ten pest enquiries for 2011. To help you identify the pests and understand the damage they cause, here is the list, in order of the top ten.
The Top Ten Pests in 2011 were:
1. Slugs and snails (various species). As in most years, slugs and snails were the number-one problem in gardens and on allotments. Most damage occurs during spring to autumn, affecting seedlings, many ornamental plants and vegetables, especially potato tubers, hostas and narcissus flowers.
2. Cushion scale (Chloropulvinaria floccifera). This sap-sucking insect occurs on evergreen shrubs, especially camellia, holly, rhododendron, Trachelospermum and Euonymus japonicus. Although long established in Britain, it has become more widespread and troublesome over the last 20 years. It excretes honeydew and infested plants develop a thick black coating of sooty mould on their foliage over the winter months.
3. Vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus). The adult beetles eat notches in the leaf margins of a wide range of herbaceous plants and shrubs. The larvae feed on plant roots, especially those being grown in pots or other containers, and they are one of the few pests capable of killing plants. Vine weevil is a top-five enquiry in most years.
4. Ants (mostly Myrmica and Lasius species). Ants tend to be most abundant in sunny gardens with well-drained soils. They cause little direct damage to plants but the soil excavated from their nests can be a nuisance in lawns, on patios and in flower beds where low-growing plants may become partly buried. Although there are insecticides for ant control, it is difficult to eliminate nests from gardens and so the presence of ants has to be tolerated.
5. Viburnum beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni). The principal host plants are Viburnum opulus, V. lantana and V. tinus but some other Viburnum species may also be attacked. Most of the damage is done by the larvae, which can reduce the foliage to lacework during late April-May. The adult beetles also eat the leaves in late summer but less extensive damage occurs at that time.
=6. Fuchsia gall mite (Aculops fuchsiae). This destructive pest infests the shoot tips and flower buds of fuchsias, causing gross distortion and preventing the normal development of foliage and flowers. This pest was first detected in the UK in 2007 when a sample of an infested fuchsia was sent to the RHS Members' Advisory Service from a garden in Hampshire. Since then it has become widespread in counties along the south coast of England and is spreading further north. This is the first time this pest has featured in the top ten.
=6. Cypress aphid (Cinara cupressivora). Die-back of conifer hedges of Leyland cypress, Cupressus, Chamaecyparis and Thuja has various causes, including infestation by cypress aphid. The aphids suck sap from the stems and cause a gradual yellowing and drying up of the shoot tips. This can result in large sections of a hedge becoming mostly brown by late summer.
=8. Leek moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella). Leek moth is another first time entrant to the top ten. It was first detected in the UK in Sussex in 1943. Initially confined to coastal areas in southeast England, it is now widespread in southern England and South Wales, and is spreading northwards. The moth's caterpillars attack leeks, onions and shallots, at first mining the foliage but later tunnelling into the stems and bulbs. Affected plants are often killed by secondary rots that invade the damaged plants.
=8. Chafer grubs (various species). Chafer grubs are the larvae of several species of chafer beetles. Most of the damage occurs in lawns where the grubs of garden chafer (Phyllopertha horticola) and Welsh chafer (Hoplia philanthus) eat the roots. During autumn to spring other animals, such as foxes, badgers and crows, rip up the loosened turf to feed on the grubs.
=8. Glasshouse mealybugs (Pseudococcus and Planococcus species). Mealybugs are sap-sucking insects that attack many plants grown in houses, glasshouses and conservatories. They frequently infest leaf axils and other relatively inaccessible parts of plants. This habit, together with the covering of white waxy secretions, makes them difficult to control with pesticides.
=8. Brown scale (Parthenolecanium corni). A sap-sucking insect that attacks a wide range of woody ornamental plants and fruit trees and bushes. Heavily infested plants lack vigour and may be affected by sooty mould growing on the scale's sugary excrement.
The top ten for 2010 are listed below.
1 Viburnum beetle
2 Slugs/snails
3 Cushion scale
3 Chafer grubs
5 Harlequin ladybird
6 Vine weevil
7 Lily beetle
8 Horse chestnut scale
9 Glasshouse red spider mite
=9 Ants
For more information about the RHS visit www.rhs.org.uk
For pest control products click here
Picture credits (click on pictures to make them larger)
Common garden snail (Helix aspersa). Credit RHS
Ants milking honeydew from greenfly.© Michael Ballard
Viburnum beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni) on Viburnum tinus.Credit RHS/Andrew Halstead
Leek moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella) on Leek (Allium porrum). Credit RHS/P. Becker
Garden chafer beetle (Phyllopertha horticola). Credit RHS / Andrew Halstead
Mealybug (Pseudococcus obscurus) on (Tecoma shirensis). Credit RHS / Keith Harris
Read more articles in Tip of the Day, by Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) or from January 2012.
