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Latin Name: Incisitermes minor
Common Name: Western Drywood Termite
Latin Family Name: Kalotermitidae
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Seven species of these native termites occur in North America, including I. minor, the western species which is extremely damaging to structures throughout California and Arizona, and I. snyderi, the southeastern species which may cause extensive damage in states from Texas to the east coast.
Biology:
Drywood termites are somewhat limited to the drier, warmer climates, and generally occur in a band from California to Virginia, in an arc along only the lower parts of the U.S., with occasional incidents in other areas as transients in infested materials. There is no true worker caste, as the nymphs perform the labor and all eventually grow to either soldiers or alates. Winged adults will not be produced until the colony is at least 4 years old, and mature
Latin Name: Reticuletermes hesperus
Common Name: Western Subterranean Termite
Latin Family Name: Rhinotermitidae
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Six species of native termites in this genus occur in North America, occurring throughout the country in all states and in Canada. These are the common and destructive soil-dwelling termites.
Biology:
With very rare exception colonies are located in the ground, with foraging done from these colonies into structures or other wood sources. There is a true worker caste, with adult workers, soldiers, and alates in the colony. It is possible that a colony can have up to two hundred thousand workers or more, and several separate colonies may exist near and be foraging in a single structure. Swarming by the alates may consist of many hundreds of alates from the colony, and many colonies in an area releasing swarmers simultaneously. This usually occurs
Latin Name: Bagrada hilaris
Common Name: The Bagrada bug
Other Names: Painted bug, harlequin bug (not the true Harlequin Bug)
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Africa and Asia but introduced to many other regions including the U.S. Southwest in Arizona and California.
Biology:
This introduced pest was first discovered in Arizona in 2008 and subsequently in California later that same year. It is a serious pest of crops such as crucifers (turnip, mustard) and kohl (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) where its feeding causes yellowing, wilting, and stunted growth. It also has been found feeding on papaya, sorghum, potato, cotton, and some legume crops. As with all stink bugs it feeds with a long proboscis that it inserts in the plant, sucking out the plant’s juices. Females lay up to 100 eggs in clusters on the plant or in the soil. The eggs hatch within a week and the nymphs develop to the adult stage over the next few
Latin Name: Halyomorpha halys
Common Name: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Latin Family Name: Pentatomidae
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to the Oriental region of China, Japan, and Korea, but introduced to the eastern U.S. in the 1990’s, where it rapidly spread through the upper northeast states.
Biology:
In its native countries the BMSB is a pest of fruit trees such as apple, peach, persimmon, and fig, but it is new enough to North America that its impact is still unknown. It is, however, fast becoming a tenacious pest within structures, where the adults over-winter in potentially large numbers. They do not breed indoors and do not cause damage, but their presence and the strong odor they emit are unpleasant. Adults emerge in mid spring to lay eggs on host plants, with egg laying continuing into mid summer. Nymphs undergo 5 instars in the summer, with 2 or more generations possible each year.
Latin Name: Euschistus conspersus
Common Name: Consperse stinkbug
Latin Family Name: Pentatomidae
Other Names: N/A
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to North America.
Biology:
Adult insects over-winter under plant debris or thick shrubbery, and on weed growth such as mustards, Russian Thistle, or mallow. They resume activity in early spring, laying clusters of eggs on foliage. The eggs resemble tiny barrels with lids. Development from egg to adult may be around 2 months, with several generations possible each year. Nymphs and adults feed on many kinds of fruits and vegetables, and are a serious pest of tomatoes in California, as well as alfalfa, sugar beets, and cereal grains. When they feed on developing fruits or vegetables they may introduce a yeast that causes decay and loss of the fruit. Feeding with their proboscis also causes dimples, discoloration, or a local hardening of the tissues at the immediate
Latin Name: Chinavia hilaris
Common Name: The Green stinkbug
Other Names: Green soldier bug
Pest Details
Origin:
Likely a native insect in North America.
Biology:
This is a very common stinkbug throughout North America, feeding on a wide variety of ornamental and agricultural plants, including fruit trees, many row crops, and many ornamentals and native plants. Females deposit their eggs on the underside of leaves in double rows of a dozen or more eggs. There is a single generation each year in the cooler northern states and two generations in southern regions. When disturbed they release foul smelling fluids from glands on the underside of their thorax. Adults overwinter and mate in spring. Development from egg to adult takes just over one month.
Identification:
The early nymphs look very different from the adults, having black and red heads and prothorax and white and black banded abdomens. The adults are true to their
Latin Name: Murgantia histrionica
Common Name: Harlequin Stink Bug
Latin Family Name: Pentatomidae
Other Names: Harlequin beetle
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to Central America and Mexico, but now present throughout the entire United States.
Biology:
This insect is particularly fond of plants in the family Cruciferaceae, which includes mustards, pepper grass, bittercress, and others, as well as many important crops such as corn, beans, tomatoes, squash. As they feed they cause discoloration and wilting of the plant tissues, and young plants may be killed. Typical of many true bugs the adult stage over-winters, usually concealed in plant debris, and often active in the winter in warmer Gulf Coast areas. They resume activity in the spring when the female lays up to 155 eggs, in double rows of about a dozen eggs which hatch in about 3 weeks, and sooner in warmer months for later generations. Development through
Latin Name: Chlorochroa sayi
Common Name: Say's Stink Bug
Latin Family Name: Pentatomidae
Other Names: Green stink bug
Pest Details
Origin:
Native to western North America.
Biology:
Adult insects over-winter under plant debris or thick shrubbery, and on weed growth such as mustards, Russian Thistle, or mallow. They resume activity in early spring, laying clusters of eggs on foliage. The eggs resemble tiny barrels with lids. Development from egg to adult may be around 2 months, with several generations possible each year. Nymphs and adults feed on many kinds of fruits and vegetables, and are a serious pest of tomatoes in California, as well as alfalfa, sugar beets, and cereal grains. When they feed on developing fruits or vegetables they may introduce a yeast that causes decay and loss of the fruit. Feeding with their proboscis also causes dimples, discoloration, or a local hardening of the tissues at the immediate site of
Latin Name: Entomobrya spp.
Common Name: Springtails
Other Names: Typical springtails
Pest Details
Origin:
Many species that are native to North America.
Biology:
A family with many dozens of species in North America. Most are found in the typical springtail habitats of covered, moist situations, such as leaf litter, under loose bark or logs and wood on the soil. They often are found in large numbers, and in general springtails feed on fungi, algae, and decaying vegetation as well as other tiny living creatures. They often enter structures to escape excessively dry or wet weather outdoors, or may live within structures where damp conditions provide their food resources.
Identification:
Usually gray to silvery-gray in color, about 1/16th inch long, and with a more expanded abdomen than some other families of springtails. These springtails have a very large, well developed furcula attached to the ventral
Latin Name: Philaenus spumarius
Common Name: Meadow Spittlebug
Latin Family Name: Cercopidae
Other Names: Froghopper
Pest Details
Origin:
As many as 54 native species in North America.
Biology:
Spittlebugs feed on a wide assortment of landscape shrubs, trees, or turf, with the potential to cause some level of damage to the plant if populations are high. Most often it is the presence of the unsightly “spit” like blobs of white foam that cause concern to homeowners. Depending on the species there may be 1 or 2 generations each year, with the egg stage over-wintering.
Identification:
Similar in appearance to many leafhoppers, but distinguished by characters on the hind leg, where the spittlebug has several very stout spines instead of the neat row of thin spines present on leafhoppers. The most noticeable stage will be as the nymph, when the insect exudes a white bubbly mass about one