Mistaken Identities

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Mistaken Identities

• Do we have a problem here?

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• There are alarming things in nature, but not all
  are harmful to us or the landscape
• Many first reactions to unusual occurrences are
  to grab the pesticide and Spray it!
• Many times no treatment was necessary

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Mistaken Identities

• Natural Phenomena
• Harmless Growths
• Beneficial Organisms
• Cultural Practice

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Natural Phenomenon
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Plant Parts Mistaken as Problems
Natural Phenomena
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Problem?
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Plant Parts
Some normally occurring parts of the plants might
be mistaken as pest or problems
Fern sori are just their reproductive structures,
they are often mistaken for Scale
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Fern Spores
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Fern Spores
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Problem?
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Lenticels

• Gas exchange organs on the stems and branches
• Corky appearance
• Ligustrum, some fruit trees

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Lenticels
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Trichomes (Hairs)
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Trichomes

• Leaf cells that have hair like outgrowths
• Looks like powdery or downy mildew
• Seen on Sycamore and grapes and others

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Problem?
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Ridged Bark

• Winged Elm
• Sweet Gum

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Bark Anomalies

• Decorative ridged bark (winged elm or sweet gum)
• Peeling Bark (River Birch)
• Shedding bark (Crape Myrtle or Loquat)

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Problem?
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Cant we all just get along?

• Some organisms are not harmful or beneficial
  they just are
• Lichen grows on plants but does not harm them
• Complex life form of Algae and fungus

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Lichens
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Lichens
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Problem?
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Spanish Moss
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Ball Moss
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Spanish Moss and Ball Moss

• Both members of the Bromeliad family
  (Tillandsia sp.)
• They are epiphytes that are not parasites to
  trees
• These are not killing the trees
• Usually a secondary symptom of canopy decline
  in the tree

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Friendly Fungi

• Aschersonia
• Natural parasite of white fly and scale insects
  on citrus
• Brown felt fungus
• Didnt kill the branch
• Controlling insect pests of trees (slowly)

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Brown Felt Fungus
Brown Felt Fungus Septobasidium
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Problem?
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Slime Molds

• Primitive fungi
• Warm, moist, weather
• Entire colonies will move onto grass blades in
  lawns
• Can be colorful
• Last only about a week or two

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Problem?
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Mushrooms

• Our climate supports many different mushrooms
• Survive on non-living plant tissue or organic
  matter

Stinkhorn Clathyrus
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Mushrooms
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Ground Moss and Algae in Lawns

• Seen in low vigor turf grass
• Too much moisture and/or poor drainage
• Shady conditions
• Did not kill the grass just replaced it

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Sooty Mold

• Harmless growth
• Grows on Honeydew
• Indicator of past or present insect feeding
• Check to see if they are still there
• Soapy water will rinse it away

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Sooty Mold
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Problem?
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Birds Nest Fungi

• Seen often in woodchips
• Fungal spores 1/16-1/8 of an inch in diameter are
  forcible ejected and can travel yards
• Looks very much like scale

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Problem?
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Earthworm Castings

• Sometimes push soil to the surface
• Could be mistaken for mole crickets
• Worms aerate the soil and decompose plant residue
  to organic matter

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Galls

• Swollen areas of plant tissue
• Insects lay eggs in new leaves
• Abnormal tissue is formed
• Insects feed on this area
• Oaks are favorite host Not too much harm done

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Galls
Horned oak gall
Galls on Red Bay
Oak fig gall
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Rhizobium galls
Root Knot Nematode Galls
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Root Galls

• Most commonly seen in the legume family
• Nodules are caused by the nitrogen fixing soil
  microbe Rhizobium
• Could be confused with Root Knot nematode

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Less than 1 of insects injure plants
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Are the Natives Friendly?

• 1/10 of 1 of all the insects in the world injure
  plants
• Many are beneficial
• Some just coexist
• Casual use of pesticides more likely to kill a
  good guy

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Is this ok?
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What about this?
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Stinkbugs

• Many are predacious, going after bad guys like
  caterpillars
• Adults will have spines on their thorax
• Nymphs can be bright blue and red in color

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Beneficial Stinkbugs
Spines on shoulders
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Nymphs (immature stinkbugs have rounded
shoulders) and may be confused with harmful types.
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Lady Beetle

• Ok everybody knows this, but they can be confused
  with Mexican bean beetle and an Asparagus beetle
• Do a proper ID before you spray

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Lady Bug Larva

• Often mistaken for a pest
• Sometimes look like Mealy bugs

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Lady Beetle and Larva
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Spiders

• Seen in the heavy morning dew
• Tiny webs
• Not sod webworms
• Predator of sod webworm

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Spiders

• Green Lynx spider
• Live on ground no webs
• Eat chinch bugs, small mole crickets, sod
  webworms
• Jumping spiders also good guys

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Spiders
Huntsman Spider Heteropoda venatoria
Brown Recluse Loxosceles reclusa
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Webbing on lawn/plants
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Big Eyed Bug
Chinch Bug
Big Eyed Bug
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Psocids
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Psocids

• Webbing on tree trunks and limbs
• Psocids feed underneath webs on lichen, and fungi
• No harm is done to tree
• Aka tree cattle

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Lacewing

• Eggs are easy to recognize
• Larva are ferocious predators eating aphids,
  mealybugs, etc.
• Adults eat pollen and other insects

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Mantid
Adult with triangular head eats pests
Egg case found on stems Contains 200 eggs
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What happened?
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Sapsucker feeding

• Looks like boring insect damage
• Woodpecker
• Deep parallel rings around the trunk
• Drink the sap
• No harm

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Sap Suckers
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Parasitic wasps

• Adults very small and go unnoticed
• Lay eggs on hosts like caterpillars, scales,
  aphids etc.

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Aphid mummy and parasitized scale

• Mummies are seen when the aphid has been
  parasitized
• Exit holes of emerging wasps are seen as holes in
  scale insects

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Ants?

• Not all ant mounds are imported red fire ants
• Most ants do not harm
• Some are predaceous

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Ants

Red imported fire ant
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ID Flash Cards from UF

• Helpful, Harmful or Harmless?
• 10
• Extension bookstorehttp//ifasbooks.ufl.edu

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Wise Pesticide Management

• Protects natural enemies and the environment
• Reduces pest resistance and keeps useful
  pesticides on the market
• Save energy and money

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When pesticides are needed

• Spot treat the problem rather than blanket
  spraying
• It helps to protect the beneficials and the
  natural balance that can exist
• Spray smart, its easier on the environment

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Weird Plant Responses to Weather
Natural Phenomena
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What happened?
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Cold Damage

• Even can happen inside
• African violets are sensitive to cold water
  during irrigation
• Looks like leaf spots

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Cold Damage
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Cold Damage

• In Spring or Fall
• Lower leaves of Hibiscus or Gardenia will yellow
  and fall off from cold temperature

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Cold Damage

• Tropical plants growing out of range
• Non cold acclimated plants will show damage
• Some bark splitting can occur as well

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Oedema

• Cloudy moist conditions
• Water is trapped inside the leaf pores
• Water pressure increase and pores rupture leaving
  scabs

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Oedema/Edema
Geranium
Tibouchina
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What happened?
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Sunscald

• When light levels suddenly increase (loss of
  canopy)
• Sunburn or sunscald can occur
• Like this Magnolia

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Sunscald
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Wind Damage

• Young tissue very vulnerable
• Thorns can puncture other leaves during windy
  periods
• 65 mph in the back of of a pickup truck also
  considered wind damage

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Wind Damage on Plants
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Ozone Damage

• Pollutant, can travel many miles
• High voltage lines, power plants
• White or necrotic flecking on leaves

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Yellowing Leaves of Hibiscus and Gardenia
Response to varying temperatures not a nutrient
deficiency
Hibiscus leaves
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Water Stress - Drought
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Other Things Mistaken as Pest Problems
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What happened?
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Canine Marking

• Territorial behavior of Dogs in home landscapes
• Usually seen on corner plants
• Can also be noticed in turf

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Nutritional Deficiencies

• Sometimes there are essential elements lacking
  the soil
• Or they are unavailable to the plant, due to the
  soil pH level
• Manganese def. in Cycas

Frizzle top
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Manganese Deficiency on Sago
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Blossom End Rot

• Looks like a fungal rot
• Caused by either a Calcium deficiency in the soil
  or irregular watering that limits calcium uptake

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Maintenance activities can cause Damage!
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Lawn Mower or String Trimmers
Lawn Mower Damage
String Trimmer Damage
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String Trimmer Blight

• Hurried use of mowers and trimmers can injure the
  plants
• Girdled bark and trunk wound can cause decline

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Fertilizer Damage
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Phytotoxicity

• Damage from pesticide sprays can happen
• Especially during hot weather or plant stress
• Chlorosis, necrosis, distortion, stunting or burn
  can be seen

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Herbicide Damage

• Weed and feed products contain a growth
  regulating herbicide
• Get it to the right plant the grass
• Uptake by active roots and leaves causes damage

Redbud
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Pesticide Burn
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What did you just spray?!

• Harmless natural phenomenon
• Harmless growth
• Beneficial organism

• Damage to the environment
• Exposure for yourself
• Exposure for the homeowner

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Be in the know

• With awareness and education, you wont be
  spraying non-problems
• With awareness and knowledge you can educate your
  clients with confidence

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Thanks to

• Woody Bug by Mizell, Fasulo and Short
  University of Florida Entomology and Nematology
• This Program was made from material taken from
  Mistaken Identities
• By S.Park Brown, Dr. Gary Simone, Dr. Don Short
  University of Florida Cooperative Extension
  Service

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Useful Websites http//solutionsforyourlife.ufl.e
du/ http//hort.ifas.ufl.edu/ http//creatures.i
fas.ufl.edu/