MildewMielie Bug
ANTS

DAMAGE: Loosens soil around roots causing plants to wilt and die. They create unsightly small mounds of earth on lawns.
CONTROL: soak or dust nest (lawn) or plants with Chlorpirifos, Garden Ripcord, Folithion, Malasol, Ant Dust, Everdeath or Stinkpowder.

APHIDS

DAMAGE: Sucks sap. Smothers young growth. Wilts and stunts growth. OFten accompanies by a black sooty mould which grows on the sticky honeydew deposited by aphids and other pests.
CONTROL: Spray plants with Chlorpirifos, Garden Ripcoard, Folithion, Malathion, Rose Care. Spread insect granules on the soil surface at the back of the plant

(WOOLY) APHIDS

DAMAGE: Forms white woolly patches on twigs, feeds on bark and causes swollen growths
CONTROL: Aphhicide, Malathion, Metasystox

CUTWORM

DAMAGE: Feeds at night on a wide variety of plants. They gnaw stems near ground level, causing plants to wilt and die.
CONTROL: Dust surface of soil with cutworm bait

FRUIT FLY

DAMAGE: Maggots eat into fruits causing them to rot and fall
CONTROL: Aphicide, Lebaycid, Malathion

LAWN CATERPILLARS

DAMAGE: Found predominantly during summer. They attack lawns leaving brown patches.
CONTROL: Dust with Karbaspray, or spray with Chlorpiriphos

LEAFROLLER

DAMAGE: Feeds on leaves, rolling and fastening them together with silk webbing. Makes holes in fruit
CONTROL: Garden Ripcord

MEALIE BUG

DAMAGE: Sucks sap, killing twigs and leaves. They also secrete honeydew which attracts ants. Found on the more inaccessible parts of plants. Root mealy bugs are smaller and show as a white powdery substance around the roots of the plant.
CONTROL: Spraying leaves does not always eliminate them - particularly the young which are wrapped in a waxy cotton wool. Wipe with an old toothbrush dipped in methylated spirit. Clean adult bugs with cotton wool and meths. Innnnsecticides include Chlorpiripphos, Dursban ZE, Mallathion and Oleum.

PEARSLUG

DAMAGE. This pest species of sawfly is 1cm long and feeds on the leaves of trees.
CONTROL: larvae can be killed by spraying the foliage with Malathion or Malasol

PERNICIOUS SCALE

DAMAGE: Sucks sap. This is the worst scale pest of deciduous fruit trees, but also attacks many other kinds of trees and shrubs. Infested twigs look as it they have been dusted with ashes. Can leave a black sooty mould on the leaves.
CONTROL: spray in winter with lime sulphur, Chlorpirifos or Dursban 2E or Oleum.
 

Live scaleDead scale

 

RED SCALE

DAMAGE: This red-orange circular insect is about 2mm in diameter. If left unchecked, heavy leaf fall and die back of twigs and branches occurs. Young trees may die. Heavy infestation causes pitting and roughening of fruit skin, and the fruit remains undersized.
CONTROL: wipe or brush off older scales, thenspray with Chlorpirifos or Dursban 2E.

RED SPIDER MITE

DAMAGE: Serious greenhouse and indoor house plant pest that thrives on many types of plants, including weeds. Adults are reddish, younger mites are flesh coloured - you may need a magnifying glass to see them. Starts with a plate yellow-brown discolouration of green foliage around the margin of the leaf.
CONTROL: Spray with Red Spidercide. Thry thrive in hot dry conditions - group continer plants in a trough filled with peat or damp gravel and spray a fine mist around the plants.

SNOUTBEETLE

DAMAGE: Tunnels into corms, tubers and roots of pot plants causing plants to die.
CONTROL: Mix Karbaspray or Karbasol in with potting soil. Spray with Garden Ripcord

TERMITES

DAMAGE: White ants are not true ants, but live in nest under garden terraces, house fuondations. They feed on roots and stems of fruit trees and rose buseses.
CONTROL: Bait with Kamikaze. Spray with Garden Ripcord or SSB.

THRIPS

DAMAGE: Streaks of silver on the flowers of indoor plants. Black or plate yellow in colour. Disfigures plants and stunts growth.
CONTROL: Remove the infested flowers/buds. Treat with insecticide quickly. Other than disfiguring the plant, thrips should not kill a healthy plant.