Pests Summary

Summary of Pests, Damage and Controls by pest

Pest	Damage	Cultural	Biological	Contact	Systemic
Scale Insect	Sucks sap > poor growth. Excretes honeydew > sooty mould	Hygiene	Parasitic wasp	Y	Y
Mealy Bug	Stunts growth. Premature leaf drop	Hygiene	Labybird. Parasitic wasp	Y	Y
Aphid	Sap suckers. Attack meristems > distorted growth	Maintain plant health. Wash / pick off. Sacrificial plants	Lacewing larvae. Hoverfly larvae. Ladybird. Parasitic wasp. Earwig	Y	Y
Cabbage White larvae	Holes in leaves, can overwhelm plant	Netting. Sacrificial plants.	Nematode	Y	X
Codling Moth	Maggoty fruit (esp. apples, pears). Early drop	Pheromone traps (reduce males > reduced laying females.)	Nematode	Y	X
2-Spot Spider Mite	Sucks sap. Leaf loss. Potential death	High humidity. Hygiene	Mite. Rove beetle	X	Y
Vine Weevil	Notches in leaves (adults). Eat roots (grubs) > wilting & death	Pick off grubs at night. Traps. Encourage natural predators.	Nematode	X	Y
Western Flower Thrip	Silvering on leaves, flecks on petals, stunted growth, distorted leaves	Select clean plants. Weed out hosts.	Mite (glasshouse)	X	Y (resistant)
Leatherjacket	Cuts base of stem. Yellow lawn patches. Secondary damage from predatory birds (esp. Corvids)	Soak lawn , cover in black plastic, remove grubs	Nematode	X	X
Wireworm	Tunnelling in potatoes	Crop rotation. Regular Cultivation.	Nematode	X	X
Earwig	Eating potatoes & older foliage.	Traps (straw stuffed upturned pots on canes)	X	Y	X
Wood Pigeon	Strips leaves from brassicas. Eats cherries, currants	Netting	X	X	X
Big Bud Mite	Infects buds > failure top flower & fruit.	Hygiene. Remove infected plants. Buy resistant / certified stock.	X	X	X
Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner	Tunnelling > white patches in June, leaf browning, early leaf drop	Hygiene. Remove & burn fallen leaves. Pheromone leaf traps. Buy resistant varieties (Aesculus x indica).	X	X	X
Mole	Lawn damage / soil heaps. Uprooting young plants	Traps	X	X	X