It’s important to know garden enemies

Oh my, the bugs are back. Lots of bugs. There isn’t enough room in this column to cover them all, so I’ll tackle the peskier ones I’m hearing about.

Clover mites: These little mites have been showing up in mass on outside walls and inside houses recently. They are about 1/64 of an inch long, soft, oval and flat from top to bottom. They vary in color from rusty brown to dark red. A distinguishing characteristic is the very long pair of legs at the front that resemble antenna.

These mites feed on sap from grasses and clover. They don’t seem to bother other plants and don’t seem to damage lawns. They concentrate in the heavy growth of a well-fertilized lawn.

Like all bugs, they tend to wander and sometimes find themselves inside houses especially now and again in the fall. Even inside, they are more of a nuisance than anything and that is what gets them into real trouble. When these mites are crushed, they leave a durable red stain.

If you have a big enough problem inside your house, try minimizing the turf near the foundation and doorways. This will put a barrier between their favorite place, the lawn, and your house. Check your foundation for spaces where they can enter the house. Use a vacuum cleaner in the house to suck them up rather than wiping them off and risk staining something important. If a chemical control is necessary indoors, use pyrethrin-based sprays for short-term contact control.

Spider mites: Our recent hot weather will bring out spider mites. These are tiny, yellowish, greenish or reddish eight-legged mites that are found most often on the underside of leaves of a number of different plants. They create a web of sorts that may be the first sign of their presence.

Spider mites feed on plant juices. If their populations are high enough, this feeding can cause the leaves or needles to become yellowed, a condition called chlorosis. If the infestation is very serious, the leaves and needles can be killed. Hot, dry weather brings them out because they become dehydrated and need to feed more vigorously.

Look for their webs on the underside of leaves. The leaf bottom may appear to be stippled with tiny holes. The insects are very tiny and hard to see without a magnifying glass.

For a very light presence of spider mites, control can be as simple as a weekly hard spray of water to the undersides of affected plants. Insecticidal soaps can be used but must be put on repeatedly, and they have had mixed results. If a plant seems to be prone to mite infestations, consider getting rid of it.

As a last resort use an approved chemical such as Kelthane or Talstar. Remember that when you use a chemical, you can also kill beneficial insects that may be preying on the spider mites. Spray both sides of the leaves thoroughly. If the infested plant is large, consider calling a professional who will have the equipment to reach high branches.

Aphids: Got a sticky residue falling out of trees and bushes onto your car, lawn furniture or other plants? You’ve got aphids. Aphids are tiny, pear-shaped, soft-bodied insects with long slender mouths they use to pierce tender plant stems and leaves to feed on the sap. They may be green, yellow, brown, red, or black in color and may have a waxy or wooly appearance. Aphids are distinguished by a pair of tube-shaped cornicles that project out the back of their bodies.

In small numbers, aphids do not cause much damage. When populations become large, however, their feeding can cause curling, yellowing and disfigurement of leaves and stunted growth in new shoots.

As they slurp away, they exude large quantities of sticky honeydew. This is the sticky residue you find on your car, garden furniture and plants. The honeydew often turns black with sooty mold fungus. Ants sometimes harvest the honeydew as food.

Vigilance during your daily garden walk is the first line of defense in detecting an infestation. A blast with a hard water spray every few days will keep a small population off balance.

Parasitic wasps, lady beetle larvae and adults, lacewing larvae and syrhid fly larvae are natural predators of aphids. By not reaching for the toxic chemicals at the first sight of aphids, you may be able to let the predators do the control work for you.

Know your enemy! If a chemical spray is needed or you are not sure what bugs you are dealing with, contact your Cooperative Extension Office or Master Gardener Plant Clinic for proper identification. They can advise you about the proper chemical to use for your specific plant. Different chemicals are registered for different plants and there can be differences in registered uses between Washington and Idaho.