Bugs-n-Stuff

Brian Leib
Massachusetts Orchid Society, July 8, 2014

Can and can’t do

Can tell you some of the concepts involved in modern Integrated Pest Management (IPM) theory

Can’t give specific recommendations for individual problems

I work with professional pesticides which are much better labeled than homeowner pesticides, but
require certification, specialized equipment, have accessibility to restricted use pesticides, though I try
not to use restricted use

START WITH DEFINITIONS

Pesticide = anything that kills

Insect Growth Regulators (IGR) are not technically a pesticide, but they still kill, usually not fast kill
Interfere with some metabolic process (chitin synthesis inhibitor, juvenile hormone mimic, ecdysone
inhibitor)
Molting requires correct ratio of ecdysone to juvenile hormone
Often considered lower risk
BUT NO PESTICIDE IS CONSIDERED SAFE

Definitions
Mode of Action aka MOA = how a pesticide kills or how an IGR works
Contact insecticide must contact the pest or the residual component must contact
Systemic pesticide is introduced typically to the foliage or media, absorbed by and distributed
throughout the plant causing anywhere it is bitten will deliver a toxic dose, often last for days to
weeks, but not necessarily equally distributed and not necessarily fast -- can require specialized
watering afterwards
Foliar applied
Media applied
Translocate means to take the substance/pesticide from one area of the plant to another – systemics
are translocated
Residual = a residue/substance left that continues to deliver a lethal dose over a period of time
Translaminar is applied to one surface of the leaf, but distributes itself throughout the plant tissue --
not a true systemic
Suffocant literally suffocates an insect. Oil is a suffocant
Sticker spreader = spray adjuvant a substance that helps a pesticide stick to a slippery leaf (instead of
running off), and promotes an even spreading of it over the surface to which it is applied -- can use a
soap but must not be antimicrobial but will get better, repeatable, predictable results with a
commercial product.

Three magic words of pesticide MOA ROTATE ROTATE ROTATE

RESISTANCE is how an insect/bacteria/etc evolves a decreased susceptibility to a pesticide via natural

selection
NO PESTICIDE KILLS 100%
Manufacturers no longer talk about preventing resistance because you can only delay it
Pesticide name vs. brand name
A pesticide can have many brand names

Pretty complete MOA booklet http://www.ohp.com/Literature/pdf/CCC_XIII.pdf

Includes
Insecticides/miticides -- mites are not insects
Fungicides
Herbicides
Plant growth regulators

BioWorks MOA Chart with pest activity

Another MOA chart

IRAC – Insecticide Resistance Action Committee

Funded by big chemical companies but useful info

MORE DEFINITIONS!
Preventative is a substance that keeps something from taking hold
MOST PESTICIDES ARE NOT PREVENTATIVES
SOME IGR ARE
SOME FUNGICIDES ARE
LOW DOSE OFF LABEL USE BAD -- can lead to faster insect resistance
Curative is meant to cure/help with the problem, remember NO PESTICIDE KILLS 100%
PPE – personal protective equipment
RANGES from: Long pants/sleeves to Coveralls and Respirator
Chemical proof footwear – sometimes waterproof is adequate, sometimes not
Chemical proof gloves – sometimes waterproof is adequate, sometimes not
Reduced Risk – lower mammalian toxicity – we are mammals…
BUT NO PESTICIDE CAN BE CONSIDERED SAFE
Honeydew – polite way to say aphid or scale poop, sugary secretion. Sometimes ants farm aphids or
scale for the honeydew
Frass – caterpillar poop
Sooty mold – is a black mold that grows on honeydew

PESTICIDE SAFETY
Pesticides are meant to kill – cannot be considered safe
READ THE LABEL – pest must be on the label, pesticide must be applied as directed
Use the specified amount – more than the labeled rate does not kill better, can cause phytotoxicity
(i.e. damage to the plant because of the chemical)

Restricted entry interval – time that must pass before one can re-enter area without PPE –MAY NOT
BE ON HOMEOWNER LABELS --early entry workers
Pesticide labels – homeowner labels may not have all the info

Some Label requirements -- some useful

Name and address of the producer, registrant, or person for who produced
***Restricted Use Statement (if required)
***Product Name, Brand or Trademark
***Ingredient Statement
***Signal Word, including Skull & Crossbones, if either are required (Caution, Warning, Danger)
► “Keep Out Of Reach of Children” (KOOROC) Label Review Manual
 **** Precautionary Statements, including Hazards to Humans and Domestic Animals
► EPA Registration Number and EPA Establishment Number
*** Storage and Disposal Statements – MOST SAY DO NOT STORE
Other parts of the label may be placed in a booklet or other “pull off” type labeling. At a minimum, the booklet
or “pull off” labeling should include the following:
► Restricted Use Statement (if required)
► Product Name, Brand or Trademark
► Signal Word, including Skull & Crossbones, if either are required
► “Keep Out Of Reach Of Children” (KOOROC)
► Precautionary Statements, including Hazards to Humans and Domestic Animals
► EPA Registration Number and EPA Establishment Number
► Directions for Use

Pests
Aphids
Sucking pests
Deform foliage
Two distinctive CORNICLES rear
Cornicles (tube-like protrusions)
Typically less than 1/8” (3.0 mm)
Reproduce sexually and asexually (parthenogenic)
Winged females when population grows too large
Color dependent upon food
Farmed by ants
Every few weeks a female can lay 60-100 nymphs
Aphids do the wave
Warm conditions populations increase rapidly
Cultural controls
Scout for early presence – especially shed skins
Sticky cards for winged aphids
Learn hot spots or use trap plants
High nitrogen encourages aphid populations
Get rid of weeds = host plants

Mealybugs and scale

Mealy are a type of scale
Soft bodied
Feed on any part of plant
Grayish in color but with a whitish waxy coating
Up to about 0.2 inches
Females can lay 600 eggs in 60 day life!!!
Summer lifecycle 30-45 days
Males winged, do not feed, short lived
***!!!Can last two to three weeks without host plant – under lip of pot, on benches, structures

Scale
mostly immobile, piercing mouthparts
Lifecycle varies widely by species
 Males winged, short lived
Nymphs mobile easily dispersed by wind
Armored
The Scale part of Armored not essential to life
Usually smaller
Soft
honeydew – scale insect comes up with scale when scraped
Sometimes farmed by ants

Thrips
Some are beneficial, not the ones in this talk
Less than 1/16” long, narrow
Other common names for thrips include thunderflies, thunderbugs, storm flies, thunderblights
Can be yellow, brown
Life cycle ten days at 85 F
Eggs in new tissue
Most pupate in media
Flower damage ranges from bleached marks, streaks, pocks
Foliage damage ranges silver, white, yellow, or brown feeding scars
Can distort flowers and leaves
Fast to develop resistance

Mites
Spider family
Spider mites
Six legged nymphs BUT eight legged adults
Leaves can look stippled, bronzed, or yellowed
Leaves may turn brown
Thrive in low humidity
Scout near vents and doors, increase humidity
Phal mite
Flat mite
Microscopic
See damage not mites
Broad mites
Too small to see with naked eye – less than 0.2 mm
Will see damage first
Thrive in high temp and high humidity
Lifecycle can take less than a week
Females 50 eggs in lifetime

Slugs and snails

Often leave shiny trail
Mollusks
Snails have shells, slugs do not
Feed on leaves, foliage
Eggs transparent

Fungus gnats
Typically a problem with long term crops
 Larva cause damage, transmit disease
Adults are not strong fliers
To help deter, let media dry some
Monitor with potato wedge, cut side down on media, check daily for larva
Shore fly
Adults are strong fliers
Mostly only a nuisance
Breed in algae in standing water

Whitefly
Identified by scale -- a stage of insect development
Can look like scale, but fly away
Vacuum
Yellow sticky cards

Diseases
Botrytis
Grey mold
Fungus
Helps to have plants dry by night
Cool, damp conditions favor development of Botrytis

Erwinia
aka Bacterial soft rot
Stinky
Develops quickly
Can entirely rot a plant in two to three days
Often starts as a spot with a yellow halo
Treatment
Can be very hard to cure
Cut off affected areas with a sterile implement
Treat with an appropriate fungicide labeled for it
Spreads by water splashing

Acidovorax aka Pseudomonas

Most common and severe disease of Phals
Symptoms may appear anywhere on the leaf as a small, soft water soaked blister
Will enlarge and coalesce then black or brown, dry, and sunken
Oozes bacteria laden liquid
Most prevalent in warmer months
Starts in Phals as blisters
Rarely fatal unless it reaches the crown

Phytopthera and Pythium Black Rots

Pythium primarily underground
Phytopthera anywhere on plant (roots, rhizomes, stem s, and leaves)
High temp and humidity make it spread faster
But spraying or watering spreads it; be careful
 If you can, discard the plant to avoid it spreading

Fusarium Wilt
Causes wilt
Invades through roots or rhizome of recently divided plants
Blocks flow of moisture, plugs phloem
Spread by improper hygiene
Sometimes a secondary infection
Prevention easier than cure

Anthracnose
Fungal disease infects aerial parts
Leaf spotting
Leaf tips turn brown or light grey
Sometimes concentric rings
Normal sanitation, increased light, and good air movement help

Beneficials
They can be great
Need to identify pest, sometimes to species level
Are not fast
Sometimes they establish
Often have to repeatedly introduce
Can be expensive
Need to get overnight shipping, sometimes more $$ than the beneficials
Some pesticides are available that are ‘soft’ on beneficials

Resources
St. Augustine Orchid Society
http://www.staugorchidsociety.org/culturepests.htm
Hark Orchideen
Information on crop protection
http://hark-orchideen.com/Unternehmen/unternehmen.php?navID=1&lang=en
IPM Labs www.ipmlabs.com
Green Methods.com www.greenmethods.com
Biobest Side Effects Manual -- www.biobest.be/neveneffecten/3/none/
Koppert Side Effects Manual -- http://side-effects.koppert.nl/
Mode of Action booklet http://www.ohp.com/Literature/pdf/CCC_XIII.pdf