Pest of Gerbera under the floriculture..

1. PESTS OF GERBERA
D.D.A.S.Perera
12/AG/009
EG-867

2. Gerbera plant
• Introduction
Kingdom:Plantae
Order:Asterales
Family:Asteraceae
Subfamily:Mutisioideae
Gebera is native to tropical regions of south
America,Africa and Asia.Gebera is very popular and
widely used as a decorative garden plant or as cut
flower.

3. Gerbera plant are more susceptible to some pests
attack.
such as,
White fly
Leaf miner
Mites
Aphids
Thrips

4. White fly
• Tiny, whitish sucking insects
• Adult whiteflies about 0.8 mm long, have four wings
• Like aphids, whiteflies also excrete honeydew.
• That tend to appear in clusters on the undersides of leaves
where they feed on sap.

5. Damage
• Whitefly feeding causes leaf yellowing and drop.
• A heavy whitefly infestation is difficult to treat

6. Control measures
• Biological control with Encarsia Formosa
• The use of BHC sprays, aerosols, smokes and parathion
and malathion sprays.
• Removal of heavily-infested leaves
• water sprays
• Use of yellow sticky
• Application of an insecticidal soap or narrow-range
oil(The best way to control whiteflies is spraying
insecticide not only on the top, but on the underside of
each leaf of your gerbera daisies.)

7. Leaf Miner
• serious pest of gerbera.
• Adult leaf miner
2 to 2.5 mm long
have a yellow head and black and yellow body with brown
wings.
• The larvae
Orange-yellow color body
Feed between the upper and lower leaf surface of the
Gerbera
Adult Leaf Miner Larvae

8. Damage
• Leaf miners lay eggs on the leaves of the gerbera.
• The larvcac born into the leaf and Larvae from the eggs tunnel
into them,make irregularly shaped tunnels or blotches which
are generally light yellowish tan to brown in colour.
• Reduce flower production
• Adults puncture leaves and sometimes petals to feed, creating
a light-colored stippling.
• Damage is usually not serious, but a heavy infestation can
slow plant growth.
• stunting the plant's growth.

9. Control measures
• Dimothoate at 0.1 % gave good control.
• Removing and destroying infested leaves
• Chemicals like acephate or paraffinic oil may also be used, but
they will only be effective early in themorning.
• Natural parasites, such as the small parasitic wasps in the
genus Diglyphus, often control the leafminer population.

10. Mites
• Multiple types of mites, including spider, broad and cyclamen
mites, can feed on Gerberas.
• Spider mites look like tiny moving dots to the naked eye,
while the others cannot be seen without a microscope.
• The development of leaves and flower buds was adversely
affected and the flowers were malformed and unsaleable

11. Infection
• Spider mite damage appears as a stippling and bronzing or
yellowing of leaves and premature leaf drop.
• Feeding by the other mites shows as distorted or dwarfed
leaves and foliage.

12. control Mesure
• spraying the plants with 20% Endrin at 200 ml per 100 l, a
further application was made after 4 week.
• Like many other gerbera daisy pests, the predators for spider
mites include ladybugs and lacewings.
• Spraying the plant with a cold water and soap solution can
also keep them away.
• Adequate irrigation
• Avoiding the use of broad-spectrum pesticides and if
possible, isolating infested plants away from healthy ones are
viable control

13. Aphids(plant lice)
• 1.5 to 4 mm long
• winged or wingless
• Black, green, brown, red or yellow color body.
• small, pear-shaped insects have a pair of tube-like
structures projecting from their rear end and use slender
mouth parts to feed on Gerberas and other plants.
• Aphids suck gerbera leaves and flower’s sap, then
weakening the plant.
• This insoct infests young leaves and buds and causes
injury by sucking the sap which results in distortion of
tissues.

14. Damage
• suck the sap from gerbera daisy leaves, which makes the
leaves turn yellow..
• Feeding by these pests can cause leaf curling, yellowing and
distortion.
• Aphids also excrete a sticky sweet substance known as
honeydew that hosts the development of unsightly sooty
mold and attracts ants

15. Control mesure
• spraying or fumigation.
• Avoiding the use of excessive or fast-release nitrogen
fertilizer,
• keeping nearby areas free of weeds,
• avoiding the use of broad-spectrum insecticides
• controlling ants all help to limit aphid problems.
• Use Ladybugs and spiders that are the aphid's natural
predators
• spraying the Gerberas with a strong spray of water
• pruning of heavily
• Infested leaves and if necessary, applying an insecticidal
soap or narrow-range horticultural oil offer control.

16. Thrips
• Thrips are tiny delicate-looking insects with
fringed wings

17. Damage
• puncture Gerbera leaves and flowers to suck out cell
contents.
• Thrips feeding causes stippling, color break and
papery leaves, and thrips leave speck-like black feces
where they feed.
• thrip infestation cause the flowers of the gerbera to
have a distorted shape.

18. Control mesure
• Addressing nearby weeds
• Laying reflective mulch around the plants
• If necessary, applying a narrow-range oil, insecticidal soap or
pyrethrin as soon as damage is noticed can offer some control
• Green lacewigs are a natural predator