PEST CONTROL MEASURE

Pest is any organism that is detrimental to humans, destroys crops and structures, poses threats to human
health and livestock, and reduces aesthetics and recreational value.
Pest includes insects, mites, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, fish, birds, and mammals.
Insects
Four Major Categories of Pest
1. Weeds – undesirable plants
2. Invertebrates – insects, spiders and mites, sowbugs, pillbugs, snails, slugs and mussels.
3. Vertebrates – birds, snakes, fish, rodents and other mammals.
4. Plant diseases –
Pathogens – living agents
 Fungi
 Bacteria
 Viruses
 Nematodes
 Phytoplasmas
Non – living agents
 Cold, heat, pollutants, dog urine
Beneficial Insects and Harmful Insects
Harmful Insects

It is not hard to imagine harmful insects in your garden. Harmful insects destroy your plants, eat your fruit, ruin
your flowers, and can turn your beautiful yard into a living nightmare.

A few examples of harmful insects include (but are by no means limited to):

Aphids: Aphids are like lice: they move into a garden, spread throughout all the plants, and can be hard to get rid
of. They are small, usually less than 1/8” in size, and cause stunted plant growth and spread diseases among
plants.

Grasshoppers: Grasshoppers chew on vegetation, and the majority of grasshopper species will eat any type of
vegetation they can.

Mealy Bugs: feed on the juices of greenhouse plants and thrive in warm, moist environments.

Caterpillars: Not all caterpillars are harmful. Some may be beneficial, and many turn into butterflies, which will
be beneficial. But in this stage of life, caterpillars are leaf-eating, plant destroying nuisances.

One reaction many people have to finding these harmful pests in their garden is to spray their garden with
pesticides. Pesticides, however, can be very dangerous to your plants and soil life. They kill the harmful pests,
but also the beneficial insects, damage your soil, and risk making your family and your pets ill.

Even organic pesticides can be harmful, if only because they can kill nature’s own pest removal service: the
beneficial insects.

Beneficial insects

Lady Bugs: Lady Beetles, or ladybird beetles, whatever they are called in your area of the world, are highly
beneficial. Not only are they pretty, but they are the natural predators of aphids, mealy-bugs, mites, and larvae of
a wide variety of harmful insects. Because of their voracious appetite for bugs that can destroy your garden, it is
no wonder they are considered lucky! Ladybugs are attracted to dill, fennel, marigolds, and chives.

Praying Mantis: The praying Mantis is a distinctive insect, with its wide head, and long, green-to-brown body.
Mantises eat other insects, including moths, mosquitoes, and flies. However, if a Mantis is hungry, it could eat
other beneficial insects in your garden, including other Mantises. Mantises are also attracted to marigolds and
dill.

Green Lacewings: Green Lacewings are called “Aphid Lions.” This is because they eat soft aphid bodies, mealy-
bugs, spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, caterpillar eggs, scales, thrips, and white flies.

Bees, Butterflies, and ‘pollinators’ While a bee sting can be harmful to humans and pets, many species of bees help
pollinate your flowers, allowing them to reproduce and make more beautiful flowers. Butterflies also help pollinate.
While eating the nectar of your plants, the pollinating insects help spread the pollen of your plants. To attract
pollinators, find beautiful native plants with bright colors.