After gently tapping on the leaf or branch you will be able to see tiny black flecks that are moving on the paper. These bugs are so tiny that the best way to detect them is by holding a piece of white paper under the suspected infestation. The plant then loses water through the open holes causing the leaves to dry out and die. With eight legs and miniature bodies, they pierce the protective surface of leaves and create tiny holes.
Spider Mites are tiny mites that feed on the leaves of many different plants. Avoid insecticides that can kill helpful bugs in your garden. Sprays made of household soap and water or garlic oil can help prevent aphid growth as well. Treatment – A small infestation can be wiped away with a cloth or blasted off with a garden hose. Aphids have a short reproductive period (10-14 days) and a population can explode in no time.īut how can you hope to control an Aphid outburst in your yard? Their bodies are usually 1/10th of an inch long and are easy to spot on the leaves and stem of your plants. These frequent bugs come in several different colors and can affect any plant from roses to hardwood trees. Aphids also release excess sap from their bodies often causing plants to mold. They suck the sap from trees and plants causing the leaves to curl and die. Reviewing the steps you can take to defend your garden and landscape from pest damage.Īphids are one of the most common plant pests. We will help you identify some of the symptoms of harmful infestations.
This article will educate you about several common plant pests of the Pacific Northwest. While bugs can be beneficial to our fruit trees and gardens, there are also many critters that can cause extensive damage and death to your plants. Spiders help reduce the population of disease spreading mosquitoes and flies. Ground beetles eat vegetable munching slugs and snails in your garden. Pollinators, like bees and butterflies, allow the plants around your home to flower and produce fruit. It can be difficult to identify hobo spiders with the naked eye, as their webs are almost always hidden under objects and are not noticeably funnel-like.Tree and Landscape Pests of the Pacific Northwestīugs play a very important role in the health of your trees and garden.Hobo spiders build funnel-shaped webs that make it easier to capture their insect prey.The hobo spider is a light brown spider, with pale markings, about 1/2 to 5/8 inch in length.The hobo spider is not aggressive, and would rather run away than attack. Houses with old or broken door sweeps, windows/screens, no weather stripping around exterior doors, foundation cracks, etc., are at greater risk for hobo invasion. Males, searching for females, follow pheromone scents given off by female hobo spiders. Hobo spiders are driven indoors for spider mating season from August through October. From August through October, hobo spider mating season happens and they are driven indoors. Hobo spiders are most noticeable and active in late summer/early fall. Hobo spiders are often found in log piles, rock piles/borders/retaining walls, crevices in soil or concrete, or locations where grass meets a building foundation. In North America, the hobo spider lives in the Pacific Northwest, from British Columbia east to Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, and south through Oregon and northern Utah. The hobo spider is actually an invasive species from Europe. The name "hobo" is linked to the spider’s presumed spread to distant cities via railways.