Common Garden Pests in Australia

Aphids (Aphidoidea)

There are more than 4000 _____ species, and around 250 of them are considered as pests for crops. You can recognize these critters by their little, pear-shaped bodies with long antennae and a pair of abdominal tubes called cornicles. Depending on species, they vary in colour and may be white, green, yellow, brown, black, or even pink. Two widespread species in Australia are the cotton _____ and the cabbage ____, and because of their wide distribution on the continent, they are also common garden pests.

Spider Mites

There is a wide variety of ____, many of which feed on plants, and a few of those can be considered as major pests. One of the most well-known species is the red ____ also known as two spotted _____. ____ reproduce rapidly in warm weather and can cause a severe damage in a short period of time.

Snails & Slugs

All garden pest ____ and ____ are introduced to Australia and can pose a huge threat to your garden plants. They damage seedlings, leaves, fruit, underground tubers and plant seeds which can result in major production losses. Probably the most common garden pests of these are the brown ____ (Helix aspera) and the grey field ____ (Deroceras reticulatum). _____ thrive in a moist environment. They avoid the sun and seek cooler spots to wait for the night when they are most active. When the weather is dry or cold, they seal their shells and can remain dormant for several years.

The female sawfly deposits her eggs in a small slit in the leaves of her favourite trees in spring. After about 2 weeks, the slug-like larvae emerge, munching the leaves to a skeleton. Heavy infestations of slugs can cause serious defoliation, and result in incredibly unattractive and unproductive trees. They drop to the ground where they go through the pupal stage allowing another generation of flies to develop. Slugs will appear in early summer, and, after the next lot of pupae have spent winter in the soil, again the following spring.

Damage & symptoms of pear and cherry slug

Plants affected by root-knot nematode wouldn't have any specific above-ground symptoms. The general symptoms are stunting, yellowing or wilting, and they can be caused by many other root pathogens. Therefore, root must be checked for evidence of root-knot damage. Presence of root swelling or galls on the roots is a typical sign of infection. These galls should not be confused with rhizobium nodules that form on the roots of legumes.

Damage and symptoms of Root-knot Nematode infestation?

Thrips are sap suckers and attack a large variety of plants. They cause significant damage to flowers, foliage, and fruit when feeding. Some species spread plant viruses, such as Tospoviruses. Symptoms of thrip infestation are: silvering and flecking appearance on leaves; deformed and stunted flowers and shoots; flower drop; browning of petals and fruit

Damage and symptoms of thrips?

Both the nymph and adult suck the plant juice causing stunting, silvering or yellowing of leaves, wilting, and yield reduction. Whiteflies produce a sticky, sugary substance called honeydew on which black sooty mould can develop. These pest insects tend to fly in clouds when the infested plant is disturbed, so you can easily spot their presence.

Damage and symptoms of whitefly

The adult codling moth is about 1 cm long, grey-brown with several grey cross-lines on the forewings. The larva is white with a black head. The first generation of moths emerges in early spring about the time of bloom. Females lay their eggs on leaves usually near fruit. After the caterpillars' hatch, they may feed on leaves for a while before burrowing into the fruit. When they leave the fruit, they form cocoons in a hidden place. This might be in a crevice, under loose bark, or in the ground. When the cocoons hatch, the cycle repeats. There is usually two to three generation per season in Australia. To identify codling moth larvae infestation, look for: Holes and frass (reddish-brown droppings) on the outside of the fruit. If the larvae have penetrated the fruit from the calyx or stem end, detection is not possible without cutting open the fruit.

How can you identify Codling Moths?

Correctly identifying earwig species is important because they each have different roles as pests or beneficial species. Adult European earwigs range from 12 to 24 mm in size. They have reddish-brown heads, and smooth, shiny brown bodies with yellowish legs, 'shoulders' and pincers (also called forceps). They are nocturnal and shelter in dark places during the day. Earwigs can cause the following damage to your plants: jagged holes in the leaves or shredded leaf tips; completely defoliated young seedings in case of severe infestation; damage to fruit resembles one of birds or slugs and snails.

How can you identify a European Earwig?

Citrus gall wasp adults emerge around October. They are shiny black and about 3mm long. The life span of the adult wasps is about a week during which a female can lay up to 100 eggs. Eggs are usually laid under the bark of young spring shoots. When monitoring for citrus gall wasp infestation, search for the presence of galls on young, green twigs. The monitoring is best to be done between June and September when you can easily detect the galls.

How can you identify a citrus gall wasp?

Adult cabbage white butterflies are white with black spots on the wings with a wingspan of about 45mm, while the larvae is velvety green with faint yellow stripes and spots along the body. The cabbage moth is greyish and about 10mm long. Its caterpillars are green in colour. To identify the presence of these insect pests in your garden, look for: Large holes in outer leaves; Dark green droppings on leaves; Discolouration of the heads of the cauliflower and broccoli, which is caused by the caterpillars' excrement.

How can you identify cabbage white butterfly and their larvae?

Slaters can be found all over Australia. Although there are different species, they all have a similar appearance - armoured, flattened, segmented bodies, gray/brown in colour with 1 pair of legs per segment. Their size vary but generally is less than 20mm.

How can you identify slaters?

Trees with frass or webbing around a hole in the trunk indicates borer presence. To identify what type of borer you are dealing with, look for: Clearwing moths leave large open tunnels filled with sawdust-like frass; Bark beetles create many tiny holes in tree branches and trunks; Wet spots and dark stains and D-shaped emergence holes may indicate roundheaded or flatheaded borers;

How to identify Tree Borers

To get rid of psyllids, you can try the following organic methods: Introduce beneficial insects, such as lacewings, ladybugs and parasitic wasps. Apply kaolin clay to your plants. It acts as a protective barrier against insect pests. Spray horticultural oil in early spring to kill overwintering adults and eggs. Spray Neem oil. Make sure to cover all leaves including their undersides. Use insecticidal soap to deal with heavy infestations.

What are some organic control measures for psyllids?

Remove weeds and crop debris from the garden as they can host thrips. Remove any infested plants. Attract beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, lacewings, minute pirate bugs and predatory mites. Use blue and yellow sticky traps to capture adult thrips. Use thrips proof mesh. Spray dormant oil on fruit trees. Spray insecticidal soap or Neem oil.

Organic control measures for thrips?

Here are some no chemical ways to manage tree borers: Improve the health of the tree to combat borers. A healthy tree can drown borers in sap. Prune branches affected by boring beetles. Moth larvae may be killed by pushing a piece of wire or straightened out safety pin into the holes. If a tree is damaged beyond healing, remove the tree and focus on protecting the rest trees of the same type around it.

Organic control measures for tree borers

Getting rid of whiteflies might not be easy as they quickly develop insecticide resistance. Your best bet would be to tackle the problem as soon as you notice it. Here are some useful organic methods you can try: Remove infested leaves while the number of whiteflies is still low. Hose the insects down with water for several days in a row. Effective only in the early stage of infestation. Use a handheld vacuum cleaner to suck up the adult whiteflies. Put the 'trash' in a plastic bag and freeze for 24 hours before discarding. Use yellow sticky traps near infested plants. Plant marigolds and alyssum near susceptible plants to attract natural predators such as lacewings, ladybirds, and hoverflies. Release parasitic wasps. They can be purchased. Spray with botanical insecticides made of hot chilli or garlic. Make sure to cover the undersides of leaves. Use potassium soap sprays or neem oil.

Organic control measures for whiteflies

Blast them off the leaves with a strong jet of water and then band the tree with a low environmental impact horticultural glue. Make a deterrent spray by collecting and squashing slugs and placing in a bucket of boiling water. Once this has cooled, spray this on the leaves (including the undersides) of affected trees and scare those slugs away! Some recommend dusting the leaves with wood ash, but since most of us don't have open fires to collect it from, try other powdery substances like chalk or flour. Talcum powder also works for some gardeners. Others have mixed fine builders' lime (about a large handful in a bucket of water). It won't dissolve so keep the sprayer agitated and remove any filters. Since sawflies pupate in the soil, adding wood ash - or even powdered lime - to the soil can help too. These substances may also benefit the soil if it is acid, but don't add too much. Get a couple of chooks to scratch around the base of host trees over winter - they can't resist the pupae napping in the soil! Create a diverse garden. This encourages predators like other flies, lacewings and wasps and they will all attract insectivorous birds. Plenty of shrubs and herbs with many small flowers will be just the answer.

Organic control measures of pear and cherry slugs

Thrips

_____ are small, slender insects (0.5mm - 15mm long) that range in colour from white to yellow to black. Although, there are more than 6000 known species of ____, only a few are important pests of plants. Some common pest ____ in Australia are Plague ____ (____ imaginis), Tomato ____ (Frankliniella schultzei), and Western Flower ____ (Frankliniella occidentalis).

Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae)

The caterpillars laid by the ______ and the ______ are common pests in the veggie garden. Both the ____ and the _____ lay their eggs on the underside of leaves. They prefer plants from the family Brassicaceae, such as broccoli, cabbage, chinese cabbage, watercress, mustard and brussel sprouts. Once hatched, the larvae start feeding on the leaves or fruits of their host plant.

Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella)

_____ is a major insect pest on pome fruits and can devastate the entire crop if not controlled. Damage is caused by the larvae which tunnel into the fruit core where they feed on the developing seeds for 3-5 weeks then burrow out leaving a brown rotting mess. Codling moth prefers apples, pears, quinces and crab apples.

Citrus Leafminer (Phyllocnistis citrella)

_____ is a small silvery-white moth with a wingspan of only 5mm. Its larvae are considered a serious pest on citrus trees of all kinds. After hatching, the ____ larvae mine their way through the leaves leaving silvery trails and causing the leaves to twist and curl. Severe infestations can stunt young tree's growth and reduce yield.

Controlling the population of codling moth might be a difficult and slow process. Usually, you will need to combine several strategies to handle the problem with this pest. Some organic measures are: Do winter clean-up by scraping loose bark frоm trees and maintaining general orchard hygiene to reduce the survival of over-wintering populations. Wrap cardboard or a band of cloth around the trunks of trees to lure the grubs that emerge from the fruits looking for place to pupate. Check these traps every two months and destroy any cocoons and caterpillars you might find there. Spray your trees with a solution of white oil and water (dilution ratio 1:50) when the weather gets warmer (around 15C+). The solution will prevent the eggs from hatching. Apply the spray regularly at weekly intervals. Inspect the trees regularly when fruit appears. Collect any infested fruits (including the fallen one) and destroy them either by submerging them in water for several days or placing them in plastic bags and leaving them in the sun. Do not compost infested fruits! Attract beneficial insects, such as predatory wasps, Australian earwigs, ladybirds, lacewings and other beneficial bugs, by planting insectary plants like mustard, clover, dill, coriander, cosmos and buckwheat. The natural enemies of codling moth will help you keep its population in control. Place removable fences around separate trees and release chooks to clean-up fallen fruit and cocoons. Keep in mind that you may have little or no success controlling the codling moth in your garden if the neighbouring trees are infested.

What are organic control measures for Coddling Moth?

There is a number of organic methods to control and get rid of these garden pests: Enhance the environment for the natural predators of caterpillars, such as ladybirds, assassin bugs, lacewings, paper wasps. Provide nest sites around your garden to attract insect-eating birds. Pick the caterpillars by hand and either squash them or feed them to the chooks. Place vegetable mesh on top of your plants to prevent eggs being laid on them. Cut white ice-cream or yogurt containers in the shapes of butterflies and put them on stakes around your garden. The white cabbage butterfly and the cabbage moth are territorial insects and they avoid places where the competition for food may seem high. Plant land cress, Barbarea vulgaris, somewhere in the garden. This plant attracts these butterflies and moths to lay their eggs on it. The leaves are toxic to the caterpillars, and when they hatch, you can count them dead. Plant herbs such as dill, basil, fennel coriander and sage. These herbs' strong smell confuses the cabbage white butterfly. Use Bacillus thuringiensis. It is organic bio-insecticide that can effectively control these pests.

What are organic control methods for the organic white butterfly?

Aphids are able to reproduce rapidly and can quickly become a serious problem for your garden. To get rid of these garden pests, we suggest the following eco-friendly solutions: You can efficiently get rid of small aphid colonies by simply crushing the insects by hand or prune the affected area of the plant. Use a strong spray of cold water to rinse the affected plants. Make sure to rinse the undersides of leaves because aphids hide there. Attract beneficial insects, such as lady beetles, lacewings and parasitic wasps, which will devour aphids. Apply tomato leaf or garlic spray. Use a spray with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. (For severe infestations)

What are some organic control measures for aphids?

Build a rich organic soil to encourage microorganisms which attack nematodes. Sow mustard, canola, marigolds or BQ Mulch as a green manure. These plants release nematode deadly chemicals when chopped through the soil. Practice crop rotation with crops resistant to root-knot nematode. Remove infested roots as soon as the crop is harvested. Do not put the roots in the compost heap. Instead, seal them in a plastic bag and put it in the sun. Not all nematodes are garden pests, most of them are beneficial and are used to control plant pests.

What are some organic control measures you can take for Nematodes?

There are two groups of scale insects - soft and armoured - and they range from 1 to 5 mm in size. Adult female scales do not move and stay permanently attached to the host plant. All scale species secrete a waxy coating for protection which makes it difficult to get rid of them. Scales are most susceptible to treatment during their juvenile stage when they are missing their protective coating. Signs that may indicate an infestation of scale pests are: bumps similar to shells on the undersides of leaves presence of honeydew and sooty mould distorted or stunted fruit dieback of twigs and branches yellow spots on leaves and defoliation

What are symptoms and damage caused by scale insects?

Female fruit flies lay their eggs beneath the skin of the fruit. The larvae referred to as maggots, start feeding on the fruit flesh as soon as they hatch causing the fruit to rot and drop. The grown maggots shelter in the soil, where they pupate. Depending on the species, fruit flies are most active from September through to May. Look for the following signs in your garden to identify a possible fruit fly infestation: Adult fruit flies flying around fruits and vegetables. Puncture wounds, such as dimpled fruit flesh, weeping, or bacteria infected sites, caused by the stings of the female fruit flies. Maggots in fruit. They would be white or creamy-white in colour and about 5-10mm long.

What are the damage and symptoms of Fruit Fly infestation?

Mealybugs can usually be found in clusters underside of leaves and stem where they feed on plant juices. Feeding is accompanied by excreting of honeydew, which attracts ants and encourages sooty mould growth. To spot mealybug infestation check under leaves and stem joints for fluffy white wax. When present in higher numbers, the symptoms of infestation are: leaf yellowing and curling wilted plants sticky foliage due to the honeydew secreted by the mealybugs

What are the damage and symptoms of Mealybug infestation?

Spider mites feed on the underside of leaves forming dense colonies. These pest use their mouthparts (a.k.a chelicerae) to penetrate the leaf and suck up the discharged sap. Many spider mite species spin webbing to protect themselves from predators while they feed and breed. Symptoms of mite infestation show up as: yellow spots on the leaf top; stripping around leaf veins; leaves feel gritty when rubbed; silken webbing; defoliation (in case of severe infestation)

What are the damage and symptoms of a spider mite infestation?

Depending on the kind of psyllid the following symptoms may occur: premature leaf drop sooty mould discoloured leaves dimpled leaves with pockmarks yellow, severely distorted, dwarfed leaves and shoots terminal dieback

What are the damage/symptoms of a psyllids infestation?

Dispose of infested plants and replace them; Use a damp cloth to rub off scale insects from the plant in case of minor infestation. Spray the infested plants with horticultural soap. Encourage natural predators of scale, such as scale-eating ladybird, lacewings and parasitic wasps, by growing suitable flowers. These beneficial insects will also help you control other garden pests. Keep ants away as they protect the scales from their natural enemies. Use horticultural glues to cut off ants' way to the tops of trees.

What are the organic control measures available for scale insects?

Getting rid of citrus gall wasp can be difficult but damage can be minimized by: Pruning out branches affected by newly formed galls. Seal the branches in plastic bags and throw them in the rubbish, or better burn or mulch them. Before pruning make sure there are no signs of exit holes on the galls. Exit holes mean that the wasps have already left the gall and removing the branch would be meaningless. Opening the galls with a razor blade and killing the larvae inside has proven to be a successful method when pruning is not an option. This method is not recommended when the normal emergence period is too close as the wasps can emerge from the cut galls. Avoiding over-fertilizing in spring as this promotes excessive spring flush which attracts the adult citrus gall wasps. Hanging yellow sticky traps in the lower canopy of the infected trees. Place the traps in mid-August before the adult wasps start emerging, and remove them in early December when wasps are no longer to prevent trapping beneficial insects. Introducing parasitic wasps which are natural enemies of the citrus gall wasps.

What are the organic control measures for Citrus Gall Wasp?

To control fruit flies in your garden we suggest the following organic strategies: Collect all infested fruit. To kill the maggots, put the damaged fruit in a plastic bag, seal it, and leave it in the sun. Alternatively, boil the fruits and feed your poultry with them. Let chooks in your orchard to aid fruit fly control by dealing with pupating in the soil. Use pheromone traps to lure and kill male flies before they mate. Unmated females won't sting your fruits. Use protein-based baits to catch both male and female fruit flies. Enclose individual fruits inside paper bags.

What are the organic control measures for Fruit Flies?

Blast the insects off the plants with a strong steam of water. This is an effective method to get rid of mealybugs when applied in the early stages of infestation. Spray the plants daily! Attract natural predators, such as ladybirds, lacewings and parasitic wasps, to control mealybugs by planting fennel, coreopsis, dill and bright flowers. Another beneficial insect is the mealybug destroyer (cryptolaemus montrouzieri) which can be purchased from garden shops. Dab rubbish alcohol or methylated spirits on the mealybugs. This will burn them but won't harm your plants. Prune the affected plants if the infestation is light. Apply insecticidal soap to the underside of leaves. Spray any infested areas with a mixture of equal parts of dishwashing liquid and water. The soap will suffocate the mealybugs. Spray the bugs with garlic or chilli soap. Grow ant repellent plants to keep ants away from your garden. The ants protect the mealybugs from their predators.

What are the organic control measures for Mealybugs?

Even at high densities, it is not certain that slaters will attack your crops. Because of their beneficial role, it's best to manage them. Here is a few suggestion by Josh Byrne, author of The Green Gardener, how to do that: Keep mulch clear of the furrow when sowing seed. Make traps by placing orange shells or cut potato between two thick layers of damp newspapers. Place the traps in a moist place in your garden. Trapped slaters can be fed to your chooks. Place old pots with the bottom chopped out around seedlings to protect them from slaters. Once the stems become tougher, you can remove them. Keep plants and fruit off the ground. For example, you can grow strawberries in pots.

What are the organic control measures for slaters?

Clean up potential breeding sites to reduce snails. Handpick and submerge them into a bucket with soapy water. Use organic sprays made of Quassia amara or other plants that deter snails and slugs, such as garlic and wormwood. Spray a coffee mix (one part fresh espresso to five parts water) to the plants and mulch where slugs and snails are a problem. The caffeine in the coffee kills these pests. Place a bowl of beer in a strategic location in your garden. Beer attracts snails and slugs, making them crawl into the bowl and drown. Build barriers to protects vulnerable plants. Suitable materials include crushed eggshells, wood ash, sawdust, lime and wood shavings. Use copper tape as individual collars around pots or raised garden beds. Copper repels snails.

What are the organic control measures for snails and slugs?

Mites feed on many kinds of plants, including vegetables, fruit trees, vines and ornamental plants. Some organic solutions to control the mites in your garden include: Introducing of natural enemies such as predatory bugs, ladybirds, lacewings and predatory mites. Removing the affected leaves. Keeping plants well watered to discourage mites as they prefer hot and dry conditions. Flushing the plants thoroughly with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. Focus on the undersides of leaves. Using a strong stream of water to knock the mites off the plant. Apply early in the morning for several days in a row.

What are the organic control measures for spider mites?

To control infestations on home garden trees, you can take the following action when the pest is first noticed: Remove any affected leaves that might be hiding pupae. Do not use these leaves for compost or you risk to create a breeding ground for more leafminers! Instead, place the leaves in plastic bags and leave them out in the sun. Spray with horticultural oil to prevent the moth from laying new eggs. This won't kill the larvae, so sprays should be applied before too many eggs have been laid. Attract natural enemies, such as parasitic wasps and lacewings, to your garden. You can reduce infestations by: avoiding over fertilising and irrigating during summer and autumn to limit flush growth; fertilising in winter to promote flush growth in spring when the citrus leafminer is rarer.

What are the organic control methods for Citrus Leafminers?

To control the earwigs in your garden: Clean up any garden debris and rubbish to reduce available refuges. Set up a trap by placing dampen newspaper in a pot turned upside down. Earwigs will crawl into the pot. Pour linseed oil in several food containers with lids filling about 3-4mm above the bottom of the containers. Make a few 5mm holes into the containers' sides above the oil's level and place the containers around the plants being attacked. This trap has proven to be quite efficient against earwigs. Earwigs are attracted by beer but they die once they taste it. Pour some beer in small jars and lay the jars on their sides. Use scooped out orange halves or crumpled up newspapers to trap earwigs. Collect them first thing in the morning and knock them into a bucket of soapy water. Sophie Thomson, a presenter for ABC's Gardening Australia, in one of her columns recommends pouring a little vegetable oil into a saucer or shallow dish and follow with a drizzle of soy sauce as the best trap for earwigs.

What are the organic measures for European Earwigs?

silver trails on the leaf surface; distorted and curled leaves;

What are the symptoms pointing to a citrus leaf miner infestation?

Aphids feed on fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, and variety of other plants by sucking sap of phloem vessels. Look for curled leaves, yellowing, browning, unusual leaf drop, or stunted growth. Aphids can usually be spotted on tips of new growth and leaf undersides. Check the leaves and stems for a sticky liquid substance. It's called "honeydew" which is produced by the aphids and can be a sign for the presence of these insects. Keep an eye for ants on your plants as well, because this sugary liquid attracts them. Examine the leaves and branches of your crops for black spots. It could be sooty mould which benefits from the honeydew secreted from sap-sucking insects, such as aphids.

What damage can aphids cause and what are 3 symptoms of an aphid infestation?

Damage caused by slaters result in ring-barking of stems and young branches, as well as, uneven rasping-type damage similar to the damage caused by slugs and snails. To find them, check under rocks, pots, stubble residue, or scrape back the mulch. These are the usual places where slaters seek refuge during the day.

What damage is caused by slaters?

big holes in leaves completely destroyed seedlings, especially veggies and herbs shiny silver trails

What is the damage caused and symptoms of snails?

Pear and Cherry Slug

While most babies are cute, cuddly and adorable, this is definitely not the case for the offspring of the Black Sawfly Caliroa cerasi. The larvae, known to us as ______, are possibly the ugliest of all pests, and the mess they make to some of our favourite fruit trees is pretty unattractive as well!

Slaters

____ (also known as pill bugs, woodlice and Role Poleys) are usually considered beneficial because they feed on decaying organic matter, and that way, help build soil. However, in high numbers, they can shift to crop seedlings, and thus, becoming a problem for gardeners.

Tree Borers

____ are actually the larval stage of different insects, such as beetles, weevils, moths, or sawfly, which lay their eggs in trees, usually trees that are under stress. Once hatched, the young larvae start eating the tree in or under the bark which interrupts the flow of sap and eventually kills the tree. Since ____ are attracted to weak trees, by taking good care for your trees you should be able to keep the borers away from your garden.

Fruit Fly

_____ are a significant threat to horticulture. These insect pests can infect a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and destroy them. In Australia, there are two ____ species that are of major concern to home gardeners and commercial fruit growers - Queensland ____ (Bactrocera tryoni) and the Mediterranean ____ (Ceratitis capitata).

Scale insects

_____ are major pests on ornamental trees, orchards, indoor plants and even ferns. Some common species of ______ in Australia are pink wax _____, black _____, soft brown ____ and citrus red _____-. They feed on the plant tissue by sucking the sap from leaves, stalks and stems, which can result in stunted plant growth, defoliation, and even death of the plant. ______ produce honeydew that encourages sooty mould growth.

European Earwig (Forficula auricularia)

_____ are omnivores and can feed on almost anything from organic matter, fruits, ornamental plants, vegetables, flowers, and seed to live and dead insects, including caterpillars and other earwigs. Most Australian native _____ are not known to damage crops and some of them are considered beneficial as they attack a variety of garden pests. However, the _____ can be a serious pest of broadacre crops when the population builds up. It attacks mainly canola, cereals, lupins and some legume crops, but it can also damage flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Psyllids

_____ are small sap sucking insects up to 4 mm in size and resemble miniature cicadas. They attack various crops including potato, carrot, citrus, pear, apple, gum trees, wattles, lillipilly and tomato. Each ____ species feeds on a specific group of plants. They do the damage by sucking plant juices and excrete honeydew on which sooty mould grows. Some psyllid bugs use the honeydew to build a protective covering called lerp.

Whitefly

_____ are small, sap-sucking insects from the family Aleyrodidae and are relatives of aphids, mealybugs and leafhoppers. They resemble small moths with wings covered in a powdery white wax and are often found on the underside of leaves. _____ can infest a wide range of plants and vegetable crops including melon, eggplant, bean, cabbage, tomato and broccoli. There are several different species of _____ in Australia but the two most common pest species found in home gardens are the Silverleaf ____ (Bemisia tabaci) and the greenhouse _____ (Trialeurodes vaporariorum).

Mealybugs

______ are about 4mm long, soft-bodied and covered by white waxy coating insects of the Psuedococcidae family. They are a common garden pest that affects ornamental plants, citrus plants, ferns, orchids, greenhouse plants and trees. ______ can usually be found in clusters underside of leaves and stem where they feed on plant juices. Feeding is accompanied by excreting of honeydew, which attracts ants and encourages sooty mould growth.

Citrus Gall Wasp (Bruchophagus fellis)

______ is an Australian native garden pest which natural host is the Australian finger lime but all citrus varieties can be attacked. Most susceptible are lemons, grapefruits, oranges and rootstocks. The ___ lays its eggs into the stems of citrus trees. Once larvae hatch, they start feeding on the stem tissue, causing woody galls that can weaken trees, which may result in reduced yield, and in case of a heavy infestation, branch dieback.

Root-knot Nematodes (genus Meloidogyne)

_______ are microscopic plant-parasitic roundworms that exist in the soil. They infect plant roots which stunt the plant's growth resulting in decreased yield or death of the plant. These parasitic nematodes have a wide host range, including many important vegetable, fruit and ornamental crops and some weed species as well. Different _______ species can be found in all mainland states of Australia.