It’s awfully important to know what critters you have in your greenhouse or garden. Critically important, in fact, if you want to use something other than a nasty, broad-spectrum pesticide to control them. But this is easier said than done. Fortunately getting super-specific isn’t always necessary — many good bugs handle a range of pests making general identification acceptable most of the time — and where it is, resources are in place and available to help you. Here’s a quick run-down of these resources.
Google and the Internet
A mere ten years ago this wouldn’t have been a real option, but nowadays one of the first places most of us run to when we want an answer to something is the Internet. Personally I use Google as my primary search engine and I use it often, but there are many choices out there and you probably have your own favorite.
As it pertains to identifying plant pests, I find typing the name of the crop plus the word pests, usually points me towards the right sites: a mix of university sites, commercial sites that have a focus on education like this one, and even garden blogs and such. And if they don’t have the information or photos I need for at least a best-guess ID, doing an image search using the same search terms will often yield good results.
One last Internet resource, one we’ve mentioned before, is the Bugwood Wiki. They have links on their sidebar leading to sites with a large number of indexed images. It’s worth a look.
Books and Journals
We have several books on this site that can help you identify pests, and they’re not the only ones out there. Many books and journals exists. All have limited photos but combined with text and an underlying structure that organizes the content, these tomes can be enormously valuable.
The most precise and methodical form of identification can be attained using identification keys. Keys are unique in that they guide the user along a diverging path, further refining the identification as one proceeds through the process of elimination. One example, a text key to insect orders, can be found on EarthLife.net’s site under Gordan’s Key to Insect Orders.
To find more useful identification keys like the one linked to above, try using the suggestion above, using the Internet, to find additional, more relevant keys.
Cooperative Extension
This is a favorite recommendation of ours. The reason is two-fold: First of all if we try to make an identification from a photo or worse, a verbal description, it’s really hit or miss and mostly unreliable unless the answer is a very easy and obvious one. The second reason is that unless you’re from southern New Hampshire, we lack the local knowledge and are probably unaware of regional peculiarities and specific differences that can aid in identification. Any information from us is at best second best when compared to a proper identification made by your local experts.
Local experts connected to your state university system (though some private schools may also be good resources) or state government, i.e. your state’s department of agriculture, know your situation best. Moreover, funded by taxpayers in most cases, these services often carry very low fees if at all — many services are free.
To connect with your local experts, again you can try the Internet, searching for your state with the words “cooperative extension” or “department of agriculture” in quotes and the results page should point you in the right direction.
Peer Groups
As Ringo Starr sang in 1967, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” Same applies here as it concerns identification. If you belong to a grower’s group, garden club, or any similar association, you again have access to that coveted local knowledge.
If you are able to share notes with anyone with circumstances similar to yours, a neighboring grower perhaps, both parties can walk away with more knowledge than either had going in. Sometimes it’s difficult to get past the whole “but he’s my main competitor” thing, but if it’s possible it’s rewarding. Two heads are, after all, better than one. This is true as it pertains to pest identification just as much as it does to myriad other things.
We Can Help You
Last, and certainly least, we might be able to help you with physical pest identification. This used to be a more attractive option, before the Internet, and we were eager to help, but nowadays there are better options. Still, the option of having us figuring it out for you is still available on a limited basis.
After exhausting all of the other options mentioned, do try the phone and tell us about your pest to begin with. Who knows, maybe we’ll nail it. We might request a photo or two, but unless you’re really good with macro photography and can offer high resolution images, the chances of us being able to help from a photo where others have failed is unlikely.
The final option is to send us a live sample. To do this please call first to ensure we have the time to look and to determine if there will be charges. Once you have the go-ahead, place a few leaves or other affected plant parts, including the pests, into a heavy-duty zipper-type plastic storage bag. Place that bag in another heavy-duty zipper type bag. Before sealing the outer bag add a piece of paper with your name, address, phone number, and general info about what are we supposed to be looking for, etc. Seal the outer bag and put it in a cardboard or foam box and seal that box securely with packing tape. The idea is to provide triple containment. Any packages not meeting these all of requirements may be destroyed. Otherwise we will take the contents into our lab and try our hand at identification.
Basic ID, i.e., “looks like you have greenhouse whitefly,” is generally free. More in-depth analysis, identification down to the genus or species level (which can easily consume 2-3 hours) will usually carry a charge simply due to the amount of time it takes. Ask for information when you call. We cannot provide in-depth identification of all pests. We only have certain keys. We can usually only identify scales to include mealybugs, and whiteflies down to genus or species level. We’re not really equipped to handle other pests — it’s a rather involved science.
Note: The photo? Yeah, it’s a triceratops. How’s that for a plant pest?
