Oct 02, 2018
Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden – Parasitic Wasp
*This is an excerpt from Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283.
Aliases: fairy fly, chalcid
Wanted For: Parasitizing the eggs and larvae of cutworms, cabbage loopers, codling moths, tomato hornworms, as well as all stages of aphids, whiteflies, scales, and other pests.
Family History: These tiny, notorious wasps lay their eggs on or inside of pests or insect eggs and the larvae eat the pest. Can be tracked by the tell-tale signs they leave behind, such as tiny, white cocoons on caterpillars or aphid mummies—the tan, dried up husks of aphids stuck to a leaf.
Sightings: Suspected of foraging for nectar on tiny flowers such as alyssum, yarrow, tansy, and clover.
Mike McQueen, Regional Extension Agent, Home Grounds, Gardens and Home Pests; Charles Ray, Research Fellow, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University; and Kerry Smith, State Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Auburn University
Reviewed November 2021, Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283
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*This is an excerpt from Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283.
AKA: Pycnanthemum
This perennial plant grows 3 feet tall and branches frequently, often with a bushy appearance. Blooms in the summer to early fall. Each cluster is surrounded by leafy bracts that appear white.
Mike McQueen, Regional Extension Agent, Home Grounds, Gardens and Home Pests; Charles Ray, Research Fellow, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University; and Kerry Smith, State Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Auburn University
Reviewed November 2021, Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283
*This is an excerpt from Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283.
AKA: Daucus carota
This flower is a biennial herbaceous plant that grows 3 to 4 feet tall. Consists of one or several hairy, hollow stems, growing from one central stem, each with an umbrella-shaped flower cluster at the top. Blooms in the summer.
Mike McQueen, Regional Extension Agent, Home Grounds, Gardens and Home Pests; Charles Ray, Research Fellow, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University; and Kerry Smith, State Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Auburn University
Reviewed November 2021, Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283
*This is an excerpt from Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283.
AKA: Celosia cristata
This flower is an annual, nonnative, herbaceous plant. Blooms with a compacted crested head 2 to 5 inches across on leafy stems that are 12 to 28 inches long. Name is suggestive of a rooster’s comb. Blooms from late summer through late fall.
Mike McQueen, Regional Extension Agent, Home Grounds, Gardens and Home Pests; Charles Ray, Research Fellow, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University; and Kerry Smith, State Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Auburn University
Reviewed November 2021, Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283