Storage pests, generally, establish in your household, by one of the following two means:

• Storage pests can enter your household if you purchase infested items
• Pest build-up can also happen when you store or keep susceptible items under poor storage conditions

Often, the damage caused by these pests goes unnoticed as they infest the items which are not in regular use. By the time you notice the pest occurrence, you may lose your stored product partially or wholly based on the pest infestation level. If the infestation is significant, the taste, flavor, and quality of food will be altered too. Sometimes it creates a favorable atmosphere for the development of secondary pathogens fungi and bacteria, which can cause allergic reactions to sensitive people.

• Bugs inject the poison into the young shoots of plants, flowering buds, and fruits while it sucks the juice from the plant tissues.
• Some bugs will carry disease like blight from one plant/tree to another to another (Ex. Stink bug).

• Black spots and holes on the surface of shoots and buds indicate bug infestation.
• In case of severe infestation blackened shoots are noticed at the terminal region of the plant.
• Deformed plant roots (=under development) and ruined flowers are also signs of damage.
• In fruit crops like peach, pears, and strawberry, damage appears as a dimple or scab on fruits.

• One way to get rid of bugs is to collect and destroy them manually. But, one must be cautious as some bugs may cause allergies to humans as they produce alarm pheromones.
• Prune out the damaged foliage.
• Once the plant lifecycle is over, remove all residues left behind as bugs may emerge again from the left-out waste.
• Spray pyrethrum (synthetic insecticide extracted from the flowers of one chrysanthemum species) on your plants, at early morning hours, when bugs are least active.
• Grow crop species which are resistant to bug infestation.
• The release of parasites (ex: tachinid fly eggs) and general predatory insects will contribute to keeping the bugs population within a limit.




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• Sudden wilting of plants.
• Holes at the basal region of the stem and sawdust-like insect waste confirms the presence of borers.

• Pull out and destroy the plants if squash vine borer attack kills it.
• Grow resistant squash varieties.
• Go for Bt formulation sprays on leaf stem and main stem of the plant.
• Use insecticides spray in case of severe infestation.

Beetles feed on crops such as potato, turnip, beans, strawberry, soybean, corn, lawn grass (turf grass and Kentucky grass), and cucumbers.

• Skeleton-like leaves, caused by adults feeding on the tender parts of the leaves between the veins.
• Some species make tiny circular holes on leaves as they feed.
• Grubs feed on root, leaves, and fruits which are at the ground level.
• In case of severe infestation on trees; the trees give a scorched appearance.

• Ideally, it's best to collect and destroy all adult beetles.
• When in soil cultivation, plough the land in summer so that hibernating grubs and adult beetles will get exposed to sunlight and die.
• To get rid of bark-eating beetles and coconut rhinoceros beetles a hooked wire can be used to extract and destroy them.
• Control weeds as and when noticed as these can act as a harbour for beetles.

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All pests do not cause crop loss; they have specific host plant range they prefer to feed and breed on. Many insects are beneficial (Ex. honey bees help in pollination of crops) in our environment and helps in bringing a balance to the ecosystem. So, as we try to control insects, it is ideal to know the insects, type of mouthparts they possess, kind of damage they can cause, and methods of remedies to be applied because all the insects are not pests.

Let us familiarize ourselves with Caterpillars. What are caterpillars, kind of damage they cause and how to tackle them in our gardens? Caterpillars belong to the order Lepidoptera, which are usually larvae of the moths and butterflies. They have cylindrical body shape with varied colours, but typically green that makes it difficult to spot them against the green background of the leaf. There are about 11,000 different species in this order.

The common ones found in household gardens can be classified based on their feeding style and the damage they incur. These are:

The caterpillar causes damage by eating the leaves. They may not pose much danger to established trees and shrubs, apart from losing some portion of a few leaves. In leafy vegetables, however, losing foliage will lead to a decrease in yield. Partly due to loss of the crop, and in part due to reduced photosynthesis rate owing to the lesser number of leaves. Caterpillars are the primary pests in vegetable families like crucifers (cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower), solanaceous (tomato, potato, chilli, sweet peppers, brinjal, etc.). Caterpillars can be better controlled when detected early (lesser population).

• Installing light traps - Light traps can be set in the plantation areas so that adult butterflies get attracted to the light source and fall into the trap.
• Creating a fabric shield - Covering the crops with fabric barriers, building a greenhouse around the crops (forms a boundary for butterflies and moths' entry and lay eggs).

• These are soft-bodied insects. They often fall prey to other creatures like birds and small mammals, which will keep their population in control.
• In the case of overpopulation, an easy way is to pick them off from the plants and put them in a bucket containing soapy water with a film of kerosene to kill them.
• Neem oil spray will help in keeping the pest population under control.

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The female mealybugs never grow wings, but male insects possess two wings. The males will live only for a short period. These male insects do not feed on the plants and exist only to reproduce.

• Reduced growth of the plants as these sucks the sap from the growing tender parts.
• The premature dropping of fruits and stunted plant growth indicates the presence of mealybugs on the crop.
• Yellowing, withering and falling of leaves from the plants.

• Keep ants out of the mealybug infested area as they can protect them from natural enemies.
• Introduce naturally occurring predators of mealybugs (like a wasp, ladybird beetles, lacewings)
• Sprays of Insecticidal soaps can be handy when combined with natural predators of the mealybug to control them effectively.
• Insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils like neem oil provides some suppression of population.
• On large, sturdy plants, high pressure or forcible water spray will reduce the population of the mealybugs effectively.

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1. Stunted growth
2. Wilting or dieback of shoots
3. Damage to/Destruction of new flush growth.
4. Curling of tender shoots

Depending upon the extent of the infestation, some of the following may help:

1. Spraying the underside of leaves with a mild soap spray or neem oil.
2. Introduce natural enemies (predators like wasp and ladybug) of aphids to your garden.
3. Chemical management/spraying of insecticide (can be used for flowering plants but not preferred for food-bearing plants).
4. If nothing else works, the last option is to collect and destroy severely affected plants to save other plants.

Happy Growing!