1. Insect and Critter Control
Wendy Hanson Mazet
University of Nevada Cooperative Extension
hansonw@unce.unr.edu

2. Anything or anyone that
is detrimental to your
garden or landscape
– destroys crops &
structures
– poses health threats
to family or pets
– reduces aesthetic
value of your property
First ask yourself - What is a Pest?

3. • Anticipates and prevents
damage
• Uses several tactics
in combination
• Improves effectiveness,
reduces side effects
• Relies on identification,
measurement,
assessment,
and knowledge
Integrated Pest Management
IPM: a balanced, tactical approach

4. An IPM Year

5. Insect & Critters in the Garden
Six Key Steps
• Observation
• Early Detection
• Correct Identification
of insect or pest
• Education
• Select appropriate
control
• Proper application

6. Control Tactics
Five Most Common
• Mechanical
• Cultural
• Physical
• Genetic
• Chemical

7. Know For Insects - Know Your Enemy:
• Sucking Insects: Pierce and suck plant juices
• Yellow or bronze discoloration of leaves and shoots
• Wilting and curling of leaves and shoots
• Aphids, whiteflies, mites (not true insects) feed near tip
of young shoots and on undersides of leaves
• Leafhoppers feed under leaf surfaces, and scale
feed on leaves, stems, and shoots.
• All feed in large groups except leafhoppers

8. Piercing Insects
Control:
• Keep plants healthy
• Maintain a diverse habitat
• Monitor garden daily, so when
insect pests are found, control
measures can be taken quickly.
– hose plants off
– insecticidal soap sprays
– horticulture oils including Neem oil
– Cover with garden blanket
– Encourage Beneficial insects

9. Aphid
• Small, soft bodied insects 1/10 inch
long
• Long mouth parts used to suck plant
juices.
• Cornicles are found on most species.
• Found in many colors.
• Most over-winter as eggs, hatch in
spring.
• Secrete honeydew.
• Most abundant in cool spring and cool
fall.
• Ants may be present tending aphids.

10. Stink Bugs
•5/8 inches long, bright
green, brown with
stripes, large body small
head
• When crush they stink!
•Piercing/sucking mouth
parts
• stippling damage on
leaf and stem tissue
•Barrel like eggs laid on
leaf and stem tissue
NCCE

11. Squash Bugs
University of Minnesota
Extension
•5/8 inches long, brown
with stripes, large
oblong body small head
•Overwinter as adults
•Piercing/sucking mouth
parts
• stippling damage on
leaf and stem tissue
•Eggs are rust to root
beer colored and found
on the undersides of the
leaf

12. Spider Mites
•Very small – require a
hand lenses to be seen
•Not an insect. Arachnid
possessing 8 legs.
•When spider mites feed
on fruit can cause a silvery
or bronzy sheen called
russetting.
•When populations are
large a fine webbing may
be seen on leaves and
needles.
•Prefer hot, dry and dusty
environments.

13. Mites Cont.
Several species of mites in our area.
– Common is two-spotted spider mite
• Found on outdoor plants and
houseplants.
– Spruce spider mite
• Found on Juniper, Spruce, and other
needled-leaf evergreens.
– Clover mite-pest of lawns and weedy areas
• Occurs as periodic lawn pest, and
nuisance in spring and
Fall.

14. Leafhoppers
•Adults a wedge-shaped and
about 1/8 inch long
•Leafhoppers over-winter as eggs
on twigs, or as adults in protected
sites, such as bark crevices.
•Very active – jumping, flying and
running when disturbed.
•Sucking mouthparts cause
stippling, yellow to
brown leaves.
•Nymphs are considered more
damaging than
adults

15. Whitefly
•White Moths with powdery
wings 1/10th inch in length
•Eggs are typically laid on
the newest leaves.
•Piercing-sucking method of
feeding produces stippling of
leaves
•Heavy feeding may wilt and
stunt plants
•hosts, bean, cucumber,
eggplant, lettuce, okra,
potato, tomato, squash, and
sweet potato.

16. Chewing Insects
• Loopers, hornworms,
leafrollers, cutworms are
all larvae of butterflies
and moths.
• Control:
– Handpick larvae
– Cover with garden blanket
– Bacillus thuringiensis-Bt
– Encourage Beneficial
insects Cabbageworm Butterfly

17. Earworm
•½ inch to1 inch in length
•Prefer cool damp places
hiding in organic mulch, under
bark, in garden debris
•Feed on a variety of dead and
living organisms, including
insects, mites and shoots of
plants.
•Earwigs also feed on silks of
corn, causing poor kernel
development.

18. Army
Cutworm
Miller Moth
•Smooth, gray-black
with smooth skin
•Can reach 1 ½ inches
long
•When disturbed they
curl into a C shape
•Caterpillars chew on
stems and leaves
•Adult is known “Miller
Moth”

19. Corn Earworm
•1 ¾ inches long
•Light green to brownish
black
•Alternating light stripe
running down the length
of its body
•Chews holes in leaves
and fruit
•Eggs laid on the silk
•Adult is a moth and
overwinters as a pupa

20. Cabbage &
Alfalfa looper
•Loopers 1 to 1.5”
•feed on leaves
•Female can lay 200-350 eggs over
a 12 day period – hatching occurs
within 2 weeks
•Larvae will feed 2 to 4 weeks
•Note: plants can lose 20 to 25
percent of their leaf area without
a reduction in yield

21. Hornworm
•Large green to brown
caterpillars – up to 3-4
inches
•Can defoliate a tomato
within days
•Adult is a sphinx moth –
known as a
hummingbird moth
•Pupa overwinter in the
soil

22. Leafminers
•Larvae a maggot or slug
like and burrow between
the two layers of tissue
•Adult is a small slender-
bodied, grayish, black-
haired fly – ¼” long
•Larvae will pupate in the
top 3” of soil, but some
will stay in the leaf itself
•Can have 3 to 4
generations a year
•Larvae over winter in the
soil

23. The Good Guys –
Naturally occurring predators
Lady beetles Snake fly
Green lacewing

24. University of Minnesota Extension –Karl Foord

25. Predators available for purchase
• Convergent lady beetle
• Spined soldier bug
• Praying mantid eggs
• Green Lacewing Eggs

27. Companion Planting
Planting a variety of flowers
will attract many of the
beneficial insects.
•Flowers in the sunflower
(Asteraceae) family consist
of many small flowers which
attract many beneficial
insects.
•Carrot family (Apiacea)
•Buckwheat family
(Polygonaceae)
•Scabiosa family
(Dipsaceae)

28. Benefits of litter management and
crop rotation
• Crop rotation
– More important for disease than
insect control
– minimum is a 4 course crop rotation
• Residue destruction
– Removes host plant
material
– Trash
– Contain compost pile Brassica
Cucurbits
Others
Legumes
Roots

29. Simple rules for crop rotation:
• Don’t follow tomato, peppers or eggplant with
potatoes, or each other.
• Allow 3 years before replanting the same group in
any given bed.
• Onions may be planted throughout all groups.
• Beets, carrots and radishes may be planted among
any group, and replanted as early crops are
removed.
• Interplant with companion plants to minimize
pesticide use.
• Keep good records so you can duplicate successes.
PennState – Crop Rotation

31. Incorporating age old techniques
Biochemical Pest Suppression
Some plants exude chemicals from roots or aerial parts
that suppress or repel pests and protect neighbouring
plants.
Insect Plants that should deter
Aphid Chives, Coriander, Nasturtium
Ants Tansy
Asparagus Beetle Pot Marigold
Bean Beetle Marigold, Nasturtium, Rosemary
Cabbage Moth Hyssop, Mint (also clothes moths), Oregano,
Rosemary, Sage, Southernwood, Tansy, Thyme

32. Insect Plants that should deter
Potato Bugs Horseradish
Mosquitoes Basil, Rosemary
Moths Santolina
Squash Bugs & Beetles Nasturtium, Tansy
Tomato Horn Worm Borage, Pot Marigold
Carrot Fly Rosemary, Sage
Flea Beetle - Catmint, Mint
Flies - Basil, Rue
Japanese beetles - Garlic & Rue (When used near roses and
raspberries), Tansy

33. Wildlife

34. Wildlife Damage and
Management
• Things to know…
– Managing nuisance
wildlife is not easy.
– It will take time
– It can be costly
– You need to be persistent
and patience.
– And there is no magic
wand
N.W.D.S UK
Wanted in 5
neighborhoods
On 17 counts of larceny,
suspect at large with a
3 pound stash of
birdseed in his checks –
Birds in Garden Image

35. • Before you start the
war you need to
understand why are
they coming to your
garden or yard.
– You moved into their
territory
• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• Now what will you do?
• H-E-R-L
– H – Habitat Modification
– E - Exclusion
– R - Removal or Repellent
– L - Lethal Control
• M.T. Mengak
Knowledge is Key in
wildlife damage prevention

36. Mule Deer
Important Facts:
•Generally prefer open space,
but very adaptable
•Herbivores – forbs, leaves and
twigs
•Size 130 to 280lbs
•Life span – 9 to 11 years
•1 to 2 young per year
•Have better nighttime vision
than humans
•1,000 times stronger sense of
smell than humans
This is a
Chipmunk
R. Miller

37. California Ground
Squirrel
Important Facts:
•Generally prefer open space,
but very adaptable
•Herbivores
•Will cannibalize
•Live in burrows
•1 litter per year – litter size ~7
•Life span 4 to 5 years
•Currently, zinc phosphide is the
only acute rodenticide that is
registered by EPA for the control of
Belding and California ground
squirrels.

38. Golden-mantled
ground squirrel
Important Facts:
•Generally prefer open space,
but very adaptable
•Herbivores
•Looks like a large chipmunk,
but they have no stripe on the
face
•Live in burrows
•Seldom do the stance of the
chipmunk
•1 litter per year – litter size ~5
This is a
Chipmunk
R. Miller

39. Voles
•Also called meadow, field or
pine mice
•4 to 8.5 inches long
•vary in color from brown to
gray
•Large colonies
•Damage by voles can be
reduced by :
•habitat modification
•exclusion
•Repellents
•Trapping
•poison grain baits
•http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/
pn7439.html
UC IPMMissouri Botanical Garden
Curtis, B, D. Curtis, and W.
Miller. 2009

40. House &
Deer Mouse
• http://ucanr.org/sites/ipm//ipmweb/?p=/PMG/P
ESTNOTES/pn74161.html
•House Mouse
•vary in color gray, light
brown to black
•Short hair, with small eyes
and large ears
•Life span 9 to 12 months
•Deer Mouse
•Two-tone, brown to grey
on top with a white belly.
Tail 50/50 tan and white
•Start reproducing at 6
weeks of age
•Prefer seeds, but will eat
fruits, invertebrates and
fungi

41. Woodrats
Important Facts:
•Also known as pack rats,
bushy tailed wood re and
trade rat
•Active at night
•Build stick dens on the
ground or in trees
•Herbivores, green
vegetation, twigs and
shoots
•1 litter per year –
litter size ~ 4

42. Rats
• Nocturnal
• Requires water daily
• Will travel several hundred
feet from nest
• Prefer to travel on edges
• Wary of new objects in the
environment
• They can jump, swim and
squeeze into and through
almost anything
• Will eat pipes, wire, blocks,
and whatever necessary to
get to food
Mice
• Nocturnal
• Generally get water from food
source
• Will travel long distances from
nest
• Prefer to travel on edges
• Not wary of new objects in the
environment
• They can jump, swim and
squeeze into and through
almost anything
• Live outside, in homes a sheds

43. Moles
Important Facts:
•live in underground
runways
•Seldom seen above the
ground
•Runways 5 to 20” deep
•Prefer loose, moist soil
•4 to 8” long - Blind
•Carnivores – earthworms,
grubs, beetles, insect
larvae
•Can eat 40lbs of food a
day
•Single litter – 3 to 5
•Life span – 3 years

44. Quail
Important Facts:
•Generally prefer open
space during breeding
•Omnivorous, but tent to
be vegetarians looking for
seed and seedlings
•1 clutch per year – clutch
size ~12 eggs
•When quail reach 2
months old they can
breed
•Life span 3 – 5 years

45. Cottontail
Rabbits
Important Facts:
•Generally prefer open
space, shrub or bush filled
areas or any backyard
urban or rural.
•Herbivores
•Live in existing cavities or
burrows excavated by
others
•Territory about ~10 acres
•multiple litters per year –
litter size ~5-6
•Lifespan 12 – 15 months
•Carry fleas

46. Resources
• http://icwdm.org/handbook/index.asp
• www.ipm.ucdavis.edu
• Nevada Department of Wildlife
– http://www.ndow.org/
• 775-688-1500 Reno office
• For general questions or comments ndowinfo@ndow.org
• Nevada Department of Agriculture
– http://agri.state.nv.us/
• 405 South 21st Street, Sparks, NV 89431
• 775-353-3638

47. Thank you
&
Happy Gardening
Wendy Hanson Mazet
hansonw@unce.unr.edu
Reno office – 775-336-0246
Douglas County – 775-782-9960