Insect Identification and Control

To effectively control insect pests, you first have to be able to identify them. Use Penn State Extension’s resources and learn how to manage and control a variety of pests. Find information on leaf miners, spiders, mosquitos, mites, beetles, ticks, cockroaches, termites, wasps, hornets, slugs, earwigs, grubs, aphids, lanternflies, weevils, maggots, centipedes, and stinkbugs. Learn more about integrated pest management (IPM), and its practical application in the field, the backyard, or at home.

Insect Identification

The first step in adopting an integrated pest management system is proper pest identification, whether the pests are in the home, an equine facility, garden landscape, or an agricultural setting. Pests can also be a problem in high tunnels, red clover stands, and in soybean production. Help is available from experts such as Michael Skvarla, director of the Insect Identification Lab at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Alternatively, you can learn to identify, prevent, and control the most common urban pests yourself.

Some of the most common insect pests include:

• Wood-destroying pests: Hymenoptera, such as bees, ants, and wasps, and wood-infesting beetles, subterranean termites, and other termites can cause severe damage to structural timbers in buildings.
• Mosquitoes: You can find more than 60 species of mosquitoes in Pennsylvania. The most widespread are the common house mosquito, white-dotted mosquito, rock pool mosquito, and the eastern tree-hole mosquito.
• Cockroaches: We commonly find three types in the US. You can control the American, Oriental, and German cockroaches by eliminating what they need to survive, such as food, water, and shelter.
• Spiders: You can find two dangerous spiders in Pennsylvania. Both the black widow spider and the brown recluse spider have a bite that may produce serious medical implications for humans.
• Stinkbugs: Not known for causing harm to humans, a large number of them flying around in your home can be distressing and if you squash them, they’re very smelly.
• Leaf miners: The larvae of these insects cause the damage. They mine their way through leaves and create blisters, hence the name. Vegetables most susceptible to this type of injury include beet, spinach, and chard.
• Tree fruit insects: The biggest issue with insects such as yellow jackets and hornets is the number of farmworkers who get stung. The general public is also at risk in farm markets and U-Pick operations.
• Spotted lanternfly: This is an invasive species that has spread throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania and nearby states.

Insect Pest Management and Control

Insect pests can cause substantial losses to crops and other types of plants. They can also cause human and animal diseases. For many years we have been dependent on pesticides as the only method of control, which has led to insect resistance and adverse effects of the environment, natural enemies, and human health. As a result, the ideal method for insect pest management and control is Integrated Pest Management.

Integrated Pest Management follows eight fundamental principles. These are:

• Prevention and suppression
• Monitoring
• Decision-making
• Non-chemical methods
• Pesticide selection
• Reduced pesticide use
• Anti-resistance strategies
• Evaluation

A key element for all these principles is identification. There are lots of resources available for both homeowners and commercial enterprises.

For homeowners and agriculture and green-industry professionals concerned about the spotted lanternfly, Penn State Extension has created multiple identification and management resources.

There are 900 species of ticks worldwide, 25 of which you can find in Pennsylvania. Penn State Extension provides an identification service and 90% of requests relate to two of these tick species.

East subterranean termites often cause damage to the structural timbers in buildings. Understanding their life cycle and the structural and chemical methods of control means you can reduce an infestation risk.

Integrated Pest Management can also be used to identify and control ants. The methods used are less hazardous to human health, less toxic to non-target organisms, easier and more cost-effective, plus are more likely to be effective in the long-term.

Mosquitoes are another common problem. They play a role in transmitting the West Nile virus, and one effective way to control them is to reduce potential mosquito breeding sites. Reducing the number of potential nesting sites is also a key element in spider management. For stinging insects such as paper wasps and yellow jackets, insecticides provide very effective control. If you’re using restricted-use, state-limited-use pesticides and regulated herbicides you will need a pesticide applicator license.

The monitoring of insect populations is one of the eight basic principles of IPM. You can monitor certain insects in the orchard using pheromone traps.

An increasing number of insect and mite pests have developed varying resistance levels to some of the insecticides commonly used. This has led fruit growers to adopt alternative approaches such as biological control by predators, pathogens, and parasitoids.

In this section, find plentiful resources on insect pest identification and management practices.