Insect Pest - Other/Misc

Several reports lately of very deformed watermelon plants, but also a few cucumber and cantaloupe fields. These distortions (fig. 1) most of the time are being caused by melon aphids Aphis gossypii Glover. Melon aphids are small and range in color from a light/dark green mottle (fig. 2), which is most common to whitish, yellow (seen during hot, dry weather), pale green, and dark green almost black forms. The legs are pale with just the tips of some parts black. The cornicles also are black. One trait of melon aphids that make them particularly difficult to manage is that unlike other aphids, their populations do not fade with higher summer temperatures. Immatures look like adults, only smaller.

Spiny witchhazel gall aphid photos on birch and witchhazel

Aphids are common on milkweeds and other types of flowers.

Last season, aphids transmitted an unusual amount of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) to wheat and barley across the Delmarva Peninsula. BYDV is particularly important when it infects plants in the fall. Fall BYDV infections can stunt plants (noticed as early as green-up, Figure 1) and cause more serious yield loss than spring infections. Our most common small grain aphid species are bird cherry oat aphid (Figure 2) and English grain aphid, although bird cherry oat aphid are associated with greater and more severe incidence of BYDV.

IPM Threshold Guide for Vegetable Crops

Insect Pests of Tomato

Insect Pest Management in Peppers

Although sorghum faces relatively few pests compared to our other grain crops, it is not a “plant and forget” crop. Sorghum is often grown on marginal ground, in areas with greater deer pressure, dryland fields, and as a rotational component for managing weed and disease pressure. Sorghum is generally a minor component of a farming operation, and as such is easy to overlook during the season, especially now as other pests are requiring more attention and corn is nearing harvest. However, there are two significant insect pests that need to be scouted for to avoid potential losses and both are active right now on Delmarva. 

IPM Threshold Guide for Agronomic Field Crops

Potato production in Maryland continues to grow and has more than doubled in the last 5 years, while in surrounding states it has declined. About 50% of the potatoes harvested in Maryland are for the fresh market while the other half goes for processing. Because of its value growers frequently apply pesticides too often in order to protect their investment. This often leads to the development of insect resistance, environmental contamination, worker and food safety concerns and poor management of pests.