Onion Maggot
Onion maggots are a common and often serious pest of plants in the onion family, including onions, leeks, shallots, garlic and chives. Learn about these pests, the damage they cause, and control here.
Articles
Mealybugs
Mealybugs are slow-moving, small, oval insects covered in white cottony wax. This factsheet describes the identification, biology and management of this insect pest.
Masked Hunter Bug
Phil Pellitteri, UW Insect Diagnostic Lab Revised: 1/20/2009 Item number: XHT1184 The masked hunter bug (Reduvius personatus) is a type of assassin bug that is commonly found indoors. The common name of this insect comes from the fact that the immature stage of the insect (the nymph) covers itself with dust and debris. These true […]
Powder Post Beetles
Phil Pellitteri, UW Insect Diagnostic Lab Revised: 4/27/2004 Item number: XHT1053 Powder post beetles attack porous hardwoods such as oak, walnut, mahogany, hickory and maple. Unheated buildings, very damp basements, barns, seasoned firewood, and lumber stored outdoors are most often attacked. Indoors, beetles can be found infesting hardwood flooring and trim, barn boards, rough-sawn timbers, […]
Pseudoscorpions
Phil Pellitteri, UW Insect Diagnostic Lab Revised: 4/27/2004 Item number: XHT1112 Have you ever found a strange, scorpion-like creature in your home? Pseudoscorpions are common, but rarely seen. They are harmless, small (1/16 to 1/8 inch long), tick-shaped critters that have a large pair of pincers, but lack the long tail and stinger of a […]
Sawtoothed Grain Beetle
Phil Pellitteri, UW Insect Diagnostic Lab Revised: 4/27/2004 Item number: XHT1111 The sawtoothed grain beetle and the closely related Merchant grain beetle are common pests in the kitchen where they infest grains, cereals, pasta, pet food, straw flowers, tea, old rodent bait, candy bars, flour, spices, and other dried plant material such as potpourri. Sawtoothed […]
Soil Contaminants in Community Gardens
Before siting and starting a community garden, learn about types and sources of potential contaminants, the basics of soil testing, and how to limit exposure to contaminants in this publication.
Potato Leafhopper
Potato leafhopper can be a serious annual pest of a wide range of plants, including apple, beans, dahlia, eggplant, potato, rhubarb, strawberry and many bedding plants. Learn more about this pest in this factsheet.
Springtails
Phil Pellitteri, UW Insect Diagnostic Lab Revised: 1/6/2005 Item number: XHT1039 Springtails are very common, small (1 to 3 mm long), wingless insects that jump or hop using a furcula, a forked structure on the underside of the abdomen that acts like a spring. Most springtails live in rich soils and leaf litter, or in […]
Two Lined Chestnut Borer
This factsheet describes two-lined chestnut borer, which is attracked to stressed and weakened oaks and is the most important insect cause of oak mortality.
Whiteflies
Whiteflies are not true flies, but belong in the same order as scales, aphids and mealybuts. Several species can infest greenhouses. Learn how to identify and manage this pest in this factsheet.
Wireworms
Authors: David Lowenstein and Russell Groves, UW-Madison EntomologyLast Revised: 05/22/2020X-number: XHT1045 Wireworms are the larvae of several species of click beetles (Family Elateridae). These beetles flip into the air with an audible click when turned on their backs. Wireworms feed primarily on grasses (including grass crops such as corn) but have a broad host range that includes vegetables […]
