Kentucky Pesticide Education Program

copyright © 2016 University of Kentucky Department of Entomology

Agricultural Insect Pests

Insects and Other Arthropods
Insects, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, ticks, and mites are arthropods. They have hard external skeletons and
segmented legs and bodies. Most insects have 3 main body regions and 3 pairs of legs; they are the only arthropods that can fly.

Insect Life Cycles and Growth

Insects go through a series of changes during their development from egg to adult in a process called metamorphosis. When the
insect hatches from an egg, it is either a nymph (gradual metamorphosis) or a larva (complete metamorphosis). The immature
stage must shed its external skeleton, a process called molting, in order to grow.

Grasshoppers undergo gradual metamorphosis, passing through three stages of

development: egg, nymph, and adult. Nymphs resemble adults. They eat the same food and
live in the same environment. The change in form from nymph to adult is gradual. Only the
adult state has wings. Other examples are aphids, stink bugs, and leafhoppers.

Insects with complete metamorphosis include butterflies and moths, beetles, flies, bees, and
ants. There are four stages in complete metamorphosis – egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The
larvae, are specialized for feeding and look very different from the adult. They have general
names such as caterpillar, maggot, white grub, or wireworm. Larvae usually live in very
different situations and often feed on different foods than adults.

A variety of insects and mites can attack plants but most are not pests. Some are beneficial,
providing natural control or pollination services. Others are scavengers on dead or dying plants so they recycle nutrients. Just
because an insect is around damage does not mean it was the cause.

Mouthparts and Feeding - Ways Insects Can Damage Plants

Pest insects may be divided into major groups according to how they feed:

1. piercing-sucking
2. chewing
3. rasping plant tissue
Piercing-Sucking
Sap feeders with piercing-sucking mouthparts can cause wilting, leaf curl, or stunted foliage. Chemicals injected by some
species of leafhoppers can cause leaf burn. Stink bug feeding can cause distorted leaves or fruit. Several aphid and leafhopper
species can carry virus diseases.

photo: Herb Pilcher, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org

Stink bugs are sap feeders that are attracted to a variety of cultivated crops and weeds. Soybeans are a favorite late summer
host, and dramatic growth in soybean acreage during the recent years has contributed to steadily increasing numbers of these
insects. The principal damage comes from loss of plant fluids, injection of digestive enzymes that can deform plant parts or kill
developing seeds. Feeding wounds can provide entry points for plant pathogens.

photo: Jim Occi, BugPics, Bugwood.org

Aphids are soft-bodied insects that use their piercing sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap. They usually occur in colonies
on the undersides leaves and on tender terminal growth. Heavily-infested leaves can wilt or turn yellow because of excessive
sap removal. Some aphids produce lots of liquid waste (honeydew) that supports the growth of sooty mold. This can reduce
yield quality. Some aphids can move virus diseases from infected to healthy plants.
Chewing
Chewers include caterpillars and beetles. They feed on leaves, fruit, or grain. The amount of feeding a plant can tolerate without
significant impact on growth or yield varies with a plant’s age, growth stage, or stress (drought, etc.).

Caterpillars

photo: Frank Peairs, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org

The armyworm is a common early season pest that occasionally causes significant damage in corn, wheat, or pastures.
Infestations usually develop in fields of small grains, pastures, or in crops planted into grass cover crops. These insects chew
inward from leaf edges. Moths lay masses of eggs on grasses so large numbers of the worms can be present in “hot spots” in
fields. After eating all of the plants in an area, large numbers of armyworms will crawl as a group in search of food plants. Cool,
wet, spring weather usually favors armyworm development.

Photo: Phil Sloderbeck, Kansas State University, Bugwood.org

The fall armyworm looks similar to the armyworm but cannot survive the winter in Kentucky. Moths arrive from the Gulf
Coast states in mid-summer and lay eggs on late-planted whorl stage corn. Large larvae eat large amounts of leaf tissue leaving
ragged leaves, similar to grasshopper damage. The worms usually found deep in the whorl often below a "plug" of yellowish
brown frass. The frass protects them from insecticide applications. Plants often recover from whorl damage without any
reduction in yield unless the caterpillars feed on developing ears.
 Daren Mueller, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org

The green cloverworm is one of the most common leaf feeding insects in Kentucky soybeans. However, it rarely reduces yield
because of the soybean plant's ability to compensate for foliage losses.

The slender, light green caterpillars have three pairs of white stripes that run the length of the body. There are three pairs of legs
near the head, three pairs of fleshy legs near the middle of the body, and a pair of fleshy legs at the tail end. Most soybean
caterpillars have four pairs of legs near the middle of the body. GCW larvae wiggle violently when disturbed.

R. L. Croissant, Bugwood.org

The corn earworm, also called the soybean podworm, is common in corn and soybean fields. The caterpillar feeds in the tips of
corn ears damaging some kernels but control is usually not practical. However, this insect can cause significant yield loss in
late-planted soybeans where it feeds on pods. Pod feeding directly reduces yield and is much harder to notice than leaf
feeding.

Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org

The black cutworm is an early season pest that can cause stand loss in corn and tobacco fields that had significant infestations
of winter annual weeds prior to planting. Cutworm moths lay their eggs on weeds. The larvae feed on crop seedlings when the
weeds are removed by herbicide application or tillage. Cutworm problems tend to be worse when wet springs allow weed
growth and delay planting. Cutworms feed mostly at night and hide during the day under clods of soil or in burrows below the
soil surface. Regrowth of cut seedlings is possible in some instances in corn depending on where the damage occurred relative
to the growing point.
Beetles

The Japanese beetle feeds on many plants, including corn and soybeans. These insects will congregate in corn fields during
pollination. There is concern that silk feeding by this insect can interfere with pollination. Pollination can occur as long as there
is at least one-half inch of silk present during pollen shed. Large numbers of adults also will feed on soybean leaves, especially
in fields where smartweed is present.

The larval stage of the Japanese beetle is a white grub that feeds below ground on plant roots. Females usually lay their eggs
in pastures and grassy areas but may deposit some in corn and soybean fields. The grubs do most of their feeding in late
summer. There is rarely enough damage to the root systems of these crops to affect yield. The grubs feed little, if any, in the
spring so there is no danger to crops planted the following year.

photo: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Wireworms are the larval stage of other beetle species that will feed on seeds and tunnel into plant stems. They are most
common in crops planted into sod or grassy fields.
Rasping

photo: Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org

Tiny thrips tear plant cells and feed on sap. These tiny insects may leave feeding scars or distorted leaves; some can carry plant
disease.

Joseph Berger, Bugwood.org

Slugs are soft-bodied non-arthropod creatures with rasping mouthparts that destroy seedlings in reduced tillage fields that
have a significant amount of crop residue on the surface. The residue, such as corn stalks, provides food and shelter. Slugs are
active during cool, moist periods in the spring and move below ground as the soil becomes warmer and drier. Molluscicides,
pesticides that are toxic to slugs, may provide some control.
Beneficial Insects
Beneficial insects play an important role in regulating populations of crop pests. Parasitic wasps and flies hunt and attack
specific caterpillars. Four species of lady beetles feed on aphids in Kentucky’s major crops. General predators like spiders and
damsel bugs eat what they can catch but also have an impact on pests.

Robert M. McPherson, University of Lenny Wells, University of Georgia, Frank Peairs, Colorado State University,
Georgia, Bugwood.org Bugwood.org Bugwood.org

Vertebrate Pests
Birds, moles, raccoons, deer, or other animals may eat or injure agricultural or horticultural crops. The usual management
strategy is to keep their numbers to a level where the damage or injury is economically acceptable. Local and state laws may
prohibit the killing or trapping of some vertebrate animals without special permits. Before you begin a control program,
check with local authorities.

Methods of vertebrate pest control include: mechanical control, baits, sanitation, and exclusion. Few pesticides are available for
control of pests other than rodents and most of them require special local use permits. Most are applied as baits. Examples of
chemicals used to control vertebrate pests include rodenticides and avicides (birds).