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Redbanded Stink Bug

Article author: Suhas Vyavhare
Most recently reviewed by: David Kerns & Stephen Biles (2021)

Common Name(s): Redbanded Stink Bug

Description

The adults are light green with a reddish band across the top of the junction between the thorax and abdomen. They are about 3/8 to 7/16 inch long and ¼ inch wide across the thorax, so they are smaller than southern green stink bug and green stink bug adults. Older nymphs are green and somewhat flattened, with a pattern of red and black markings on the top of the abdomen. The key feature to identify adult redbanded stink bug is the presence of a spine on the ventral side of the abdomen. Some may confuse redshouldered stink bug (Thyanta spp.) with the redbanded stink bug. However, the adult redshouldered stink bug has a flatter finish and do not have the spine on the abdomen.

Origin and Distribution

Originally described from the island of St. Vincent in Caribbean, redbanded stink bug is frequently reported from Central and South America as a major pest of soybean since 1960s. In the US, it is present in more or less numbers throughout the southern states from Florida to Texas.

Habitat & Hosts

Soybean (Glycine max), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), peas (Pisum sativum), lentils (Lens culinaris), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), clover (Trifolium repens), and other forage legumes of the genera Sesbania, Crotolaria, Indigofera, and Cajanus.

Life Cycle

Overwintering adults lay eggs in spring to begin the first generation of the year. Nymphs undergo five instars before becoming adults. Each instar lasts 3-13 days with the 3rd instar being the longest. The redbanded stink bug completes its life cycle in about little over a month depending upon environmental conditions. Each year, multiple generations of stink bugs can develop first on legume weeds, then on soybeans when they begin to flower.

Management

If you live in the State of Texas, contact your local county agent or entomologist for management information. If you live outside of Texas, contact your local extension for management options.

When making treatment decisions, sample stink bugs using a sweep net or ground cloth. The redbanded stink bug causes more damage per individual than other stink bug species resulting in a lower economic threshold. Consider treatment when redbanded stink bugs average 16 adults and older nymphs per 100 sweeps. Use same threshold through the R7 (beginning maturity) growth stage as late season infestation can result in significant quality losses.

Redbanded stink bugs are relatively more difficult to control with insecticides that other species of stink bugs. A variety of insecticide options are available but be aware that the period of vulnerability when pods are developing is much longer, making insecticides with long residual activity a good option. Continued scouting is imperative because flying adult stink bugs can re-infest soybean fields after an insecticide application. Planting early maturing varieties can help avoid severe stink bug infestations to some extent.

Related Publications

https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/resources/management-guides/managing-soybean-insects-in-texas/soybean-insects-late-season-pests-r1-to-r7/

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/bean/redbanded_stink_bug.htm

Citations

Akin, S., J. Phillips, and D. T. Johnson. Biology, identification and management of the redbanded stink bug. University of Arkansas.

Panizzi, A. R., and J. G. Smith. 1977. Biology of Piezodorus guildinii: Oviposition, development time, adult sex ratio, and longevity. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 70: 35-39.

Vyavhare, S. S. 2014. Establishing and implementing an IPM program for the redbanded stink bug: an emerging soybean pest in the southern region, Ph.D. dissertation, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

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Thrips

Article author: Kerry Siders
Most recently reviewed by: Suhas Vyavhare & Pat Porter (2020)

Common Name(s): Thrips

Description

Thrips are slender, cigar-shaped, straw-colored insects about 1/15-inch-long as an adult. They have piercing and sucking, cone-shaped mouthparts. Adults have narrow wings fringed with hairs and can drift long distances in the wind. Due to their small size, thrips are often difficult to see.

Habitat & Hosts

Onion thrips have an extremely wide host range. They feed and can reproduce on several cultivated crops including onion, cotton, beans, fruits, vegetables, and practically all small grains. Citrus thrips feed on leaves and fruit of most all species of citrus tree plants. Greenhouse thrips feed on a wide range of horticulture plants. Gladiolus thrips feed on gladiolus and other species of flowers. Western flower thrips feed on a wide variety of plants including chrysanthemums, gloxinia, impatiens, tomato, cotton, vegetables, and grasses. Some plants species, varieties and cultivars are more attractive to the thrips than others.

Life Cycle

In the thrips life cycle, egg-to-adult development takes about 16 days. Eggs inserted into the plant tissue by the female’s sharp egg-laying tube (ovipositor) hatch in about 6 days. Two larval stages require about 6 days for completion; then, the prepupal and pupal stages take an additional 4 days and generally occur in the soil. The average life span of a mated female is about 35 days, and each female can produce fifty or more eggs. Thrips can reproduce without mating. Mated females produce both males and females; unmated females produce only males.

Management

If you live in the State of Texas, contact your local county agent or entomologist for management information. If you live outside of Texas, contact your local extension for management options.

Thrips management needs and strategies vary across commodities. Avoid planting cotton during cool conditions so that young plants will not be affected when plants are most susceptible to thrips damage. Not planting cotton near small grains and onions or adjusting planting date helps alleviate thrips migration into the field. Chemical control is an effective way of managing thrips. Chemical control options include insecticide application (foliar/in-furrow) and/or seed treatments.

Related Publications

http://lubbock.tamu.edu/files/2017/05/Thrips_ENTO-069.pdf

Citations

Suhas Vyavhare, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist David Kerns, Professor, IPM Coordinator and Extension Specialist. ENTO-069. 2017. Thrips. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.

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Alfalfa weevil

Article author: Blayne Reed
Most recently reviewed by: Pat Porter & John Thobe (2021)

Common Name(s): Alfalfa weevil

Description

The alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica, is in the Order Coleoptera (beetles and weevils) and is considered by many to be the most destructive pest in alfalfa.  Damaged alfalfa plants show skeletonizing of leaflets and shredding of the tips of new growth, mostly caused by larvae in the spring.  Alfalfa weevil larvae hatch from eggs lain in the stems where, after hatching, they will often feed for several days before emerging from the stem.  Once emerged from the stem, the larvae move quickly to the newest growth up the plant.  These larvae are often almost white or yellowish after hatching, but quickly become green with a white or often yellowish middorsal stripe and a black head capsule. They are approximately 1/4-inch long when full grown.  These larvae are legless, somewhat resembling a plump-bodied maggot in body shape, but they have well developed ridges on the underside of the body that take the place of legs. Larvae begin feeding on the new growth of the plant but will move lower down the plant as foliage is consumed.  They will typically only be found in field for about a month in the spring, usually before the first cutting but subsequent, prolonged, or otherwise late oviposition can cause larva hatches later in the spring or early summer.

Once the larvae mature, they spin silken cocoons on the plants to pupate, emerging as adult weevils.  Adults feed on leaves, stems, and new growth over the summer before leaving fields for sheltered locations but rarely at the level or density they did as larvae earlier in the season, and most of the damage goes unnoticed.  Adults exhibit the typical medium sized weevil snout that protrudes downward with chewing mouthparts on the end that the weevils will use to feed with and bore oviposition sites in young alfalfa stems.  The adult weevil is typically between 1/8 and 1/4-inch long, light brown in color with a dark stripe along the center of its back that tappers to the end.  To many, the lighter portions of the adult weevil’s back resemble racing stripes.  The adult’s coloring changes to darker as they age, and the dark center stripe can be difficult to see with the naked eye on older weevils.

 

 

Origin and Distribution

Alfalfa weevils are not native to the United States.  They were likely accidentally imported from southern Europe first around 1900 with the first economic population noted around Salt Lake City, Utah in 1904.  Since then, they have spread to all alfalfa growing regions in the contiguous United States.  There are differences in populations of alfalfa weevils that once led to the belief that there were two species of alfalfa weevils, but it is now thought that these differences have more to do with alfalfa production differences depending upon location.

Alfalfa weevil damage to alfalfa

Alfalfa weevil damage. Pat Porter.

Habitat & Hosts

Alfalfa crops are the alfalfa weevil’s primary host, but these pests will attack several species of clover.  Adults move in and out of fields readily, and alfalfa undergoing establishment can become unexpectedly infested even if there are no alfalfa fields nearby.

Life Cycle

Alfalfa weevils exhibit complete metamorphosis but have one generation per year.  The larvae hatch in the spring.  This usually happens well before the first cutting, but after the plants begin the new season’s regrowth.  In the various growing regions within Texas, this can occur sometime between February in the south of Texas and late April on the High Plains.  The larvae feed on new plant growth and skeletonize plants during this time.  Unchecked, large populations can easily ruin the first cutting.  If the damage is severe enough from this spring infestation, plant stunting and retarded growth can last the entire growing season.  Extended or late egg laying can lead to the direct larval feeding of the second and possibly even subsequent cuttings in extreme situations.

Once the larvae mature, they spin silken cocoons on the plants within the curl of dead leaves that make it to the soil in leaf litter.  Adults emerge and feed in alfalfa, usually below noticeable levels for several weeks.  During the peak summer, adults leave alfalfa for sheltered sites.  With colder temperatures, adults return to alfalfa to hibernate or overwinter below the warm soil near the crown of the alfalfa plants.  Adults may become active and begin laying eggs at any point in the winter if temperatures permit, particularly in southern production areas.  From the moment the eggs are lain, weevil degree days (WDD) begin to accumulate.  This can start between December and April with an initiate temperature of 48°F (8.9°C).  At around 155 WDD, eggs may begin hatching and by 325 WDD the peak of the 3rd larval instar stage should be reached.

 

 

Management

If you live in the State of Texas, contact your local county agent or entomologist for management information. If you live outside of Texas, contact your local extension for management options.

Please consult your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension county office for best sampling and local control methods and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension guide Managing Insect Pests of Texas Forage Crops https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/files/2018/03/Managing-Insect-Pests-of-Texas-Forage-Crops-ENTO-064-2017.pdf for action thresholds and labeled chemical treatment options.

Sweep nets or beat buckets are often helpful for field scouting of alfalfa for weevils.  Thresholds for the alfalfa weevil are based upon the number of larva per stem, larvae per square foot, or larvae per sweep.  Economically significant populations of alfalfa weevil larvae often require chemical treatment.  Alfalfa varieties that are of a less dormant type can increase egg lay, as can abundant growth in the fall.   Early harvest of the first hay cutting is a common control option if hay quality will not be too negatively impacted or if foliage is excessively thick and insecticide coverage could be an issue.  However, stubble must be monitored closely, and needed chemical treatments shortly following this cutting are possible.  Alfalfa varieties with low-level host plant resistance are also available.

Citations

Knutson, A., Bowling, R., Corriher-Olson, V., 2017.  Managing Insect Pests of Texas Forage Crops. https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/files/2018/03/Managing-Insect-Pests-of-Texas-Forage-Crops-ENTO-064-2017.pdf

Metcalf, Robert L., Luckmann, William H., 1994.  Introduction to Insect Pest Management, Third Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.  pp 474-485.

Metcalf, C. L., Flint, W. P., & Metcalf, R. L., 1962.  Useful and Destructive Insects, Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill.  New York.  pp 550-552.

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Garden Fleahopper

Article author: Tyler Mays
Most recently reviewed by: Blayne Reed & Ballinger (Vacant) (2021)

Common Name(s): Fleahopper, Garden fleahopper

Description

The garden fleahopper is a small insect roughly 1/16 of an inch in size and is black with yellow spots. The females have two forms: a long wing and a short wing. Males and long-winged females resemble tiny, tarnished plant bugs, and the wings have membranous tips that extend past the end of the abdomen. The forewings of short-winged female lack the membranous portion and resemble the forewings of beetles. Garden fleahoppers can be confused with flea beetles because of their size and jumping habits when disturbed; and aphids because of their small size, but aphids do not hop when disturbed.

Garden fleahoppers are commonly found on the underside of leaves or plant terminals and tend to hop, jump, or fly when disturbed. This insect feeds on the plant’s leaf tissue and young fruiting sites and will give the leaf chlorotic spots due to cells dying, resembling the damage caused by spider mites and can cause malformation or fruit shed of flowing fruit.

Origin and Distribution

The garden fleahopper is a native insect and is widely distributed in the eastern United State of America and Canada. It is also distributed as far west as the Rocky Mountains and southward into the Caribbean as well as Central and South America.

Habitat & Hosts

The garden fleahopper has a wide host range and can be found infesting field crops, ornamentals, and vegetable crops. Commonly infested field crops include alfalfa, clover, sweet clover, and has been observed infesting cotton on the Texas High Plains recently. Ornamental plants infested include chrysanthemum, daisy, marigold, and salvia. Several vegetable plants can be infested including bean, cabbage, cowpea, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, pea, pepper, potato, squash, sweet potato, and tomato. Garden fleahoppers can also be found feeding on several weedy plants including bindweed, pigweed, mallow, ragweed, and many others.

Life Cycle

The garden fleahopper has an incomplete life cycle (hemimetabolous) and passes through an egg and 5 nymphal instars before becoming an adult. Their life cycle can be completed in roughly 30 days depending on environmental temperatures. Under cold temperatures this insect overwinters (diapause) in the egg stage, and in warmer climates it overwinters as the adult stage.

Eggs are inserted into the leaves and stems of plants at puncture wounds and dead plants are white to yellow in color. Once nymphs hatch from the egg, they are a pale green and become darker shades of green with each instar. The nymph passes through a total of five instars before becoming adults in 11 to 41 days based on the temperature.

Nymphs and adults feed on both leaf and stem tissue by piercing cells and feed on the cell’s contents. This feeding damage causes the cells to die and gives the leaves a stippling appearance with chlorotic spots, similar to the damage caused by spider mites and can cause early fruit shed in squaring cotton or malformation of the flower. Leaves heavily damaged by the garden fleahopper will die prematurely. This damage can also hinder the sale of plants grown for fresh leaves like lettuce and herbs, or the reduce ornamental sales because they are no longer aesthetically pleasing to the customer.

Management

If you live in the State of Texas, contact your local county agent or entomologist for management information. If you live outside of Texas, contact your local extension for management options.

The garden fleahopper can be suppressed easily with labeled insecticides, and therefore tend to be a pest of gardens rather than commercial production sites, but economic populations in both do occur. In gardens these fleahoppers can be managed with home/garden insecticides labeled for aphid management. The eggs are protected from insecticide application because they are inside the plant tissue, and a second insecticide application may be needed once the eggs hatch to reduce damage. Physically removing weedy hosts close to and within or nearby to production sites and gardens can keep garden fleahopper numbers from reaching damaging levels. Natural enemies of the garden fleahopper do exist and can be used to manage their population. These natural enemies include parasitic wasps and a predatory mite among other predacious insects and spiders mobile enough to catch the fleahopper. For management recommendation please contact your local County Extension Office.

Related Publications

Managing Cotton Insects in Texas. https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/files/2018/03/ENTO075.pdf

Citations

Capinera, John L. 2020. Featured Creatures: Garden Fleahopper. University of Florida Publication: EENY-78. entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/fleahopper.htm. Accessed Nov. 30, 2020

Bessin, Ric. 2019. Garden Fleahopper. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Publication:Entfact-307. entomology.ca.uky.du/ef307. Accessed Nov. 30, 2020

Vyavhare, Suhas S., Kerns, David, Allen, Charles, Bowling, Robert, Brewer, M., and Parajulee, M. 2019. Managing Cotton Insects in Texas. Texas A&M AgriLife Publication: ENTO-075. https://extensionentomology.tamu.edu/files/2018/03/ENTO075.pdf. Accessed Nov. 30, 2020

 

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