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Pest Management Center

Cooperative Extension & Outreach | ANR | Pest Management Center

Pest Management Center

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When dealing with agricultural pests — whether insects, weeds, or plant diseases — UOG Extension recommends employing Integrated Pest Management, or IPM.

WHAT IS IPM?

Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is an ecological strategy that uses a combination of effective, yet environmentally conscious, tactics to reduce pests and their damage.

IPM tactics can include biological, chemical, physical, and cultural practices and can be applied to both agricultural and non-agricultural environments. 

4 Steps to Integrated Pest Management:

  1. Identify the pests.
    Accurate identification is the first step to effective pest management. Take advantage of UOG Extension's free insect diagnostics and identification service (click the Services tab above).
  2. Monitor activity.
    Seeing one pest on a plant does not necessarily require action. Monitor the pest population and set an     action threshold — or the point at which you will take action to prevent an economic threat or unacceptable harm to your crop.
  3. Prevent pests.
    In agriculture, some prevention methods include mowing, crop rotation, trap crops, companion planting, delay of planting, and selecting pest-resistant plant varieties.
  4. Take action to control the spread.
    If it becomes clear that prevention methods are no longer effective, start with the most effective and least risky forms of pest control, such as weeding, trapping, or use of targeted pheromones to disrupt mating. If less risky controls are not working, the next step would be targeted pesticide application. Broadcast spraying of non-specific pesticides is a last resort.

Here are some tips when applying controls for specific types of pests: 

  • Monitoring to know what insect pests and beneficial insects you have is critical.
  • When a pest is found, you do not always need to apply a control.
    • If it is a small number, it is better to just let the natural systems control the pest. You can sometimes effectively crush or spray the pests with water. Another mechanical control method often used is floating row covers to protect crops from insects (but be careful of the heat retained).
    • Only apply a control if there is a large outbreak.
  • Weed control is especially important in new plantings. 
  • A range of weed control practices can be used on the farm:
    • Mulch 
      • shredded paper and cardboard
      • organic mulch or organic materials
      • plastic mulch (must be removed annually)
    • Cover crops, green manure, and living mulches, such as sun hemp, red velvet bean, and sweet potato
    • Mowing
  • Disease control starts with selecting an appropriate variety for disease resistance. 
  • Windbreaks minimize physical damage to plants, which can provide an entry point for diseases.
  • Maintain open airflow throughout your production areas by not planting plants too close.
  • Practice crop rotation to reduce the buildup of disease associated with a particular plant family.
  • Mulch to prevent rain splashing soil particles from carrying disease onto the plants.
  • Perform crop sanitation by disposing or composting crop residue.
Pest Crops affected Indicators
Asiatic corn borer corn
  • caterpillars boring into whorls and stems of young plants
  • larvae feeing on tassels and boring into stems and ears of mature plants
  • broken stem or tassel at tunnelled region
Banana skipper banana
  • eggs laid in groups on lower side of banana leaves
  • rolled, or eaten, leaf ends
  • decreased banana bunch size
Banana weevil Banana, cocoa
  • Weak plants with slow growth and smaller bunch sizes
  • Tunnels in rhizomes filled with brown or black debris
Beanfly Various species of beans, including yard-long beans, pole beans, and mungo beans
  • Single laid eggs on leaves near the petioles or leaf stalks
  • Swollen or cracked stems
  • Maggots feeding on stem of seedlings just above ground level
  • Seedlings fail to grow, leaves drop prematurely
Bean pod porer Various species of beans, particularly yard-long beans and pole beans
  • eggs in the flower buds
  • caterpillars inside pods, bore holes
Citrus leafminer Lemon, lime, tangerine, other citrus
  • Whitish track in citrus leaves created by larvae
  • Oval eggs laid under a citrus leaf near the midrib
  • Dried leaves, if heavily infested
Cluster caterpillar taro, cabbage, tomatoes
  • Clusters of eggs under leaves covered in brown scales
Coconut rhinoceros beetle coconut palms, betel nut palms, sago palms, and date palms, pandanus
  • V-shaped palm branches, whitish grubs in soil
Coconut scale coconut and other palms, pandanus, banana, papaya, guava, avocado, cacao, cassava, tea, breadfruit, sugarcane, cotton, rubber
  • Small, flat, whitish scale with waxy, semitransparent covering on underside of leaves
  • Stunted palm leaves or lack of coconuts
Cowpea aphid legumes, yard, longbeans, winged beans
  • Small bugs found on the growing points of a plant (tips, flowers, and developing bean pods)
Eriophyid mites wild ferns
  • microscopic mites, white in color
  • erinea (gall-like structures) on leaf blades
Fruit-piercing moth Citrus, guava, mango, papaya, pomegranate, eggplant, tomato
  • Pinhole-sized puncture in fruits leaving a dry, spongy cavity, early fruit drop
Green scale guava, coffee, chico, citrus, soursop, sweetsop,mango, banana
  • Black leaves
  • Oval-shaped, flat, clefted scales found along veins of leaves
Hemispherical scale/helmet scale guava, coffee, cotton, eggplant, okra,citrus, soursop, sweetsop, mango, tea, banana
  • Black leaves
  • Yellow-brown to dark brown, dome-shaped/half-sphere scale found on leaves, small twigs, shoots, and fruits
Leafminer Most severely affects beans, but also tomatoes, cucumber, melon, bell pepper
  • White track on leaves
  • Leaf loss and decreased production
Mango shoot caterpillar Mango, siniguelas, cashew
  • Eggs laid singly near new growth on twigs, bud scales,  leaves
  • Tiny green caterpillars (with red spots if older)
  • Larvae consuming new leaves, tender shoots, flowers and sometimes the fruit
  • Inhibited fruit production from flowers being eaten
Melon aphid/cotton aphid cucurbits, citrus, eggplant, peppers,taro, okra, banana, cotton, coffee, cocoa, Piper, tomato, beans, sweet potato, potato
  • Small yellow, light green, or dark green bugs with black heads and cornicles feeding on underside of leaves
  • Wilting or downward curling leaves; small or distorted leaves; wrinkled, cup-shaped leaves
Okra leafhopper eggplant, okra, cotton, potatoes
  • Eggs on the midrib of leaves
  • Pale green bugs on the underside of leaves. Nymphs move sideways when disturbed. Adults fly and have a tiny black spot on each wing.
  • Curled leaves at the edge and leaves with brown dead spots with a yellow halo.
Phalaenopsis mite Phalaenopsis and many other genera of orchids
  • very small reddish mites, viewable only with a hand lens
  • speckled white areas that turn into brown sunken pits
  • death of leaves, in severe cases
Philippine ladybeetle/Cucumber ladybeetle tomato, eggplant, potatoes, husk tomatoes
cucumber, pumpkin, melons
  • Brown parallel scrape marks on leaves
  • Bright yellow eggs laid in a cluster on underside of leaves
  • Bright yellow spiky larvae
  • Dull orange adult beetle with many black spots
Red-banded thirps Mango (worst damage at seedling stage), cashew, cocoa, avocado
  • Lower surface of leaves have dark, rusty appearance with numerous small, shiny black spots of excreta.
  • Curled leaf edges
  • Loss of leaves in older trees. Setback in growth for seedlings. 
  • Yellow nymphs with bright red band around abdomen. Dark brown adults of about 1 mm.
Red orchid scale orchids, particularly cattleyas, dendrobiums, and vanilla
  • scales on leaves that have circular, moderately convex and dark reddish brown shields
Spiraling whitefly Many fruit trees and ornamentals, commonly plumeria, guava, sea grape, and coconut
  • Reduced plant vigor and fruit yields, sooty mold on leaves
  • Eggs on underside of leaf in a spiral pattern
  • Small, dusty-white insects resembling a tiny moth. Can cover entire lower side of leaves.
  • Nymphs covered in a waxy, white substance and secrete a sticky juice. 
Sweet potato whitefly cabbage, broccoli, sweet potato, tobacco, eggplant, cotton, soybean, hibiscus, and more than 300 species of plants
  • singly laid eggs on top or underneath leaves
  • oval, scale-like objects that are greenish-white in color
  • adults appear as tiny white flies less than 1 mm long, usually found on underside of leaves or flying around plant
  • stunted, discolored plants
Striped mealybug Sweet potato, cassava, coffee, cacao, citrus,guava. Common on tomatoes and eggplants,particularly on water-stressed plants.
  • Fuzzy bugs in large clusters. Bugs are powdery white with a pair of purplish dorsal stripes and two long wax tails.
  • Eggs laid laid alongside the adults
Taro hornworm/Taro hawkmoth plants in thetaro family: Colocasia taro, Alocasia taro, and various ornamental plants, such as Caladium and Amorphophallus
  • Green caterpillar with a distinctive reddish horn on posterior end
  • Large holes in leaves, usually starting at the outer edge of the leaf
  • Single eggs on taro leaves
Taro root aphid taro and closely related plants
  • Yellow aphid usually covered with a mass of fine cottony and waxy threads
  • Looks like white mold on the taro roots and on the leaf sheaths
  • Extensive damage is frequently cooincidental with drought conditions during early plant growth
Taro planthopper taro
  • Yellow leaves
  • Eggs laid in twos in small holes of the midrib, petioles, or petiole bases of taro plants
  • Adults are black with white patch, short-winged usually but long-winged in cooler periods
  • Adults and nymphs both hop and congregate on underside of leaf
Turnip aphid cruciferous crops
  • yellowish or greenish aphids found in colonies on lower side of leaves
  • yellowing leaves and wilting plants
  • black sooty mold develops on honeydew produced by aphids
Vanda orchid scale orchids
  • flat, circular or pear-shaped, light-brown scales found in the internode
  • dark patches on stems and leaves
Wooly whitefly Citrus, guava, surinam cherry
  • Sooty mold organisms that look like fluffy wool, which can build up into a heavy crust
  • Premature leaf drop and defoliation in citrus
Yam rust mite yams
  • purplish-gray microscopie mites on surface of leaves and cultivated yams
  • curled and chlorotic young leaves
  • reddish brown discolorations on older leaves 
Pest Trees affected Indicators
Flame tree looper Flame trees (Delonix regia), yellow poinciana (Peltophorum pterocarpum), Desmanthus virgatus, Cassia fistula, Leucaena leucocephala
  • Foliage stripped except for midrib, smaller leaves, death of branches, desynchronized flowering
  • Yellowish or bluish-green eggs laid singly on leaflets
  • Green or black and white caterpillars, cocoons constructed of webbing and leaves
Tangantangan psyllid Primarily tangantangan (Leaucaena leucocephala), but also observed on monkeypod (Samanea saman), flame tree (Delonix regia), Desmanthus virgatus, and Prosopis pallida
  • Stunted, bunchy appearance of terminal branches, loss of leaves, death of terminal growth, low pod production
  • Plants resprouting from base
  • Damage in drier spot of the plant
  • Small green or yellow insects in high quantity that hop or fly readily, eggs laid on new growth
Chain of love, Mexican creeper, mountain rose, confederate vine, hearts on chain shrubs and trees
  • quick-spreading vine that smothers shrubs and trees
  • heart-shaped leaves of 3-5 inches long, distributed alternately on stems
  • bright white or pink flowers
  •  
Dodder field crops, ornamentals, trees, forest plants
  • leafless vine with slender orange or yellow stems
  • white flowers in clusters along the vines
  • seeds produced in large quantities

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Insect and Disease Identification

For a free insect or disease identification, bring the insect or photos to Agriculture & Life Sciences Building, Room 105, during working hours, or contact:

 

Bamba  P.  Jesse

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Tuquero  E.   Joseph

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