Never underestimate how much attention a small insect can demand. I was working in my garden this weekend and noticed a strange fluffy white insect on an eggplant. I tried to crush the tiny critter between my thumb and forefinger, but it jumped---hopped---or flew quickly to a new spot.
Then I noticed the same insect on my Buddha’s Hand citron tree located on the other side of the house.
By the next day, the one or two on the eggplant had increased to about a dozen.
Now I’m annoyed and I want to know just what this insect is. It’s white and fluffy like a mealy bug, but it moves way too fast to be one of them.
I pull out Dr. Whitney Cranshaw’s book, “Garden Insects of North America,” but I don’t see this insect. On Monday, I call one of my best county Extension agent buddies and describe the insect to him. He suggests it may be an aphid.
An aphid? Who ever heard of an aphid that looks like a tiny cotton ball?
Well, I can’t let it go so I launch a full-scale Google search attack using a variety of words to describe the insect. At some point, I added the word woolly to the search string. Lo and behold, I think that I now have my answer. It is probably an adult woolly aphid. Check out the photo at Iowa State's Department of Entomology site.
It’s also settled the tiny insect’s fate at least on the eggplant and the citron tree. Because aphids can act as vectors for different plant viruses, I plan on giving both good blasts of water to wash the aphids off. Then, I hope the lady beetles I noticed on the eggplant and nearby tomatoes will polish off any of the remaining aphids.
Identifying the insect pest allowed me to determine how best to manage them. Those are two critical elements of integrated pest management or IPM. I am combining a mechanical means of control, hosing off the plants, and a biological control, letting a natural aphid predator do its job.
If you want to learn more about IPM, visit the Alabama Integrated Pest Management Information Center or the Enviromental Protection Agency’s fact sheets on IPM.
Posted by lawremc at June 2, 2009 01:12 PM | TrackBack