According to a pest control company from https://www.guardianhome.com/pest-control/, between 2006 and 2016 alone, 35 new agricultural pests emerged in the country. However, there are also about 500 who have not yet crossed the border, fortunately. This means that the number of enemies of the crop is significant, but it is possible to delimit a more recurrent group that is difficult to eliminate. It is these insects and fungi that we will talk about now!
- Helicoverpa armigera: The Helicoverpa armigera is a very destructive caterpillar, attacking various crops, but further damage has been observed in corn, cotton, and soybeans. They enter through the aerial structures of the plant, such as leaves, flowers, and fruit. Their larvae damage the plant at any stage of development, feeding on flowers, branches, and even seed capsules.
- Coffee borer: The coffee borer (Hypothenemus hampei) is present in coffee plantations around the world. The insect attacks the fruit at any degree of ripeness. It pierces the grain and can cause it to lose up to 21% of its weight.
- White Mold: White mold is a disease caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, which mainly affects grain crops, such as beans and soybeans, but can also affect several other crops, such as vegetables, tomatoes, cotton, sunflowers, and potatoes. There are records of more than 400 host species.
- Tomato on foot attacked by the pest: Tomato is one of the crops that suffer the most attacks from pests. It is a very dangerous pest. In soy, for example, it can generate losses of up to 70% in productivity. In addition, it is very resistant because it manages to remain in the soil for several years, just waiting for the subsequent harvests.
- Cochineal: Cochineal insects are insects of the Hemiptera families. They cluster in fruits, roots, leaves, and branches of different plants. There are several species of mealybugs, and, therefore, they can come in various shapes, colors, and sizes. The insect sucks the sap from the plants and injects a toxin that causes damage. In pineapple, for example, it causes what we know as “pineapple wilt.” It also attacks avocado, peanut, potato, corn, coconut, rice, and banana crops.
- Fruit fly: The Anastrepha attacks mainly fruits exposed to the sun, like papaya, pear, plum, passion fruit, apple, and citrus. The systems are very characteristic: a ring about 2 cm in diameter around the place where the fly laid the egg. The place takes on a brownish color, rotting and giving conditions for the appearance of some fungi. It attacks ripe or unripe fruit.
- Mites: Mites are arachnids that represent important agricultural pests for different crops. Like phytophagous, they feed on parts of plants, from leaves to roots. These insects attack plantations of strawberries, soybeans, corn, and many others. Among the main symptoms of the attack are chlorosis, leaf spots, wilt, atrophy, and tanning.
There are several species of mites according to guardian pest control, such as:
- Spider mite (Tetranychus);
- False-rust mite (Phyllocoptruta oleivora);
- Spotted mite (Tetranychus urticae);
- Red mite (Tetranychus cinnabarinus);
- Yolk mite (Eriophyes sheldoni), known as a citrus pest.
- Soybean rust: Soybean rust, also called Asian rust, is caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi. As the name already says, it is widely found in soybean crops, easily propagated through the spread of spores in the wind.