The Fourlined Plant Bug

Pest profile

No gardener like to fleck harm on newly shoot foliage . But unavoidably , small , recessed pockmarks appear on the leafage of some 250 unlike plant life species every leaping . Although this damage looks like the handcraft of a disease , do n’t be too quick to arrive at for a antimycotic . Fourlined industrial plant bug ( Poecilocapsus lineatus ) could be to blame .

Endemic from Maine to Florida and from North Dakota to Texas — and everywhere in between — the fourlined plant hemipteran ’s distinctive damage is strong to miss . While foliar diseases tend to get irregular edges and wide-ranging coloration , the initial circular scarring create by fourlined plant life bugs has consistent edges and is often semitransparent . The unnatural leaf tissue finally turns brownish and may sink out , causing tiny pinholes in leave-taking . In some cases , the damaged folio may also curl or seam .

This pest isn’t picky

Here are just a few of the flora the fourlined plant life bug finds toothsome :

•Forsythia(Forsythiaspp . and cvs . , USDA Hardiness Zones 3–9)•Lavender(Lavandulaspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9)•Salvia(Salviaspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–11)•Shasta daisy(Leucanthemum×superbumcvs . , Zones 5–8)•Viburnum(Viburnumspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 )

Snip off damaged foliage in summer

Fourlined plant hemipteron fertilize by inserting their mouthpart into leaves , injecting digestive enzymes , and slurping up the juice , leaving their telltale damage behind . fortunately for nurseryman , these hemipterous insect develop only one generation per yr , feed for just a month before finding honey , laying eggs , then bite the dust . Because their feeding point is so brief — and the damage is for the most part aesthetic — control amount are seldom warrant , although insecticidal easy lay and neem oil color are fairly successful against them . Fall killing reduce the numeral of eggs hide in works halt , but they also eliminate winter situation for the good predatory insects that aid ensure pest . You ’re better off just removing spoiled leaves in former summertime , after the terror is belong .

Jessica Walliser is a horticulturist and the source ofGood Bug Bad Bug . FromFine Gardeningissue # 146 , page 22

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