See All Pest, Disease and Weed Identification

The European pine sawfly is common in Pennsylvania. The larval stage feeds on the needles of pine trees in landscapes, nurseries, and Christmas tree plantations.

Cockroaches are among the most common of insects.

The twospotted spider mite is a general feeder that attacks a wide variety of plants including shade trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Slugs are closely related to snails and differ from them by the absence of an external shell.

Springtails are small, abundant, insect-like critters. If they become a nuisance in homes, it is usually during extended droughts or prolonged, saturating rains.

Three types of lice infest humans: head lice, body lice, and pubic or crab lice. Bites cause much discomfort, and scratching often leads to secondary bacterial infections.

The fall webworm is a widely distributed native pest that appears from late summer through early fall. It feeds on many species of deciduous trees and shrubs.

The European pine shoot moth is a key pest of ornamental pine plantings, pines in production nurseries, and Christmas trees in Pennsylvania.

Several species of ants commonly inhabit home lawns and ornamental plantings of trees and shrubs.

An annoying and troublesome pest that concerns numerous homeowners is the moth fly, also commonly known as the drain fly, filter fly, or sewage fly.

Thief ants are a native species that is found throughout the eastern United States. These ants are so small that they frequently go unnoticed in the home.

The German cockroach is a widely distributed urban pest. It is also the most common cockroach species in houses and other buildings.

The black vine weevil is a serious pest in nurseries and established landscape plantings.

The boxelder bug frequently becomes a nuisance pest around homes and buildings near plantings of the boxelder, Acer negundo.

The boxwood leafminer is a serious pest of Pennsylvania plantings of boxwood, Buxus spp.

The boxwood psyllid is a common pest of boxwood, Buxus spp. It is not considered as destructive as other boxwood pests.

Silverfish, Lepisma saccharina, and firebrats, Thermobia domestica, are insects that are mostly a nuisance pest in homes.

Yellow garden spiders are seen in gardens, tall weeds, and sunny areas with bushes and other supporting structures on which they build their large orb webs.

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) was first collected in September of 1998 in Allentown, but probably arrived several years earlier.

Many species of aphids or plant lice occur on ornamental trees and shrubs in Pennsylvania.

There are a variety of gall-forming species of small wasps that commonly infest oak trees in Pennsylvania.

The magnolia scale is one of the largest scale insects in the United States. It feeds only on magnolia.

The Japanese maple scale is a recently detected pest of a wide range of woody host plants in Pennsylvania.

Millipedes are many-segmented, wormlike arthropods found throughout Pennsylvania. They usually go unnoticed in damp locations under leaves, rocks, and boards.

The pine needle scale is a key native pest of pine, Douglas-fir, spruce, and cedar in landscapes, nurseries, and Christmas tree plantations in Pennsylvania.