AUBURN-Most insects are actually good bugs, but the bad ones give them a negative reputation. Of all the identified insects, less than 1% are major pests. These examples highlight a few insect pest species in Alabama.
Japanese Beetle
Popillia japonica
This beetle is a major pest of roses and other ornamentals. It aggressively feeds on plant foliage and blooms in the spring and summer.
Fall Armyworm
Spodoptera frugiperda
These caterpillars feed voraciously as they march across turf areas, eating green leaf tissue and leaving behind large areas of brown turf.
Green Stink Bug
Chinavia hilaris
These strong flying insects feed on immature cotton bolls. Severe feeding causes the plant to drop the boll reducing cotton production.
- Japanese Beetle
- Fall Armyworm
- Green Stink Bug
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Halyomorpha halys
Stink bug feeding on a tomato resembles a yellow “starburst” on red fruit. It creates a small, shallow white spongy area under the starburst.
Plum Curculio
Conotrachelus nenuphar
Adults lay eggs on the fruit. The larvae then tunnel into the developing fruit making it inedible.
Black Turpentine Beetle
Dendroctonus terebrans
Largest native pine bark beetle that damages stressed pines by boring into the bark 2 to 10 feet above the ground.
- Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
- Plum Curculio
Media Release/ Lucy Edwards/Alabama Extension Service
