Pests

Bruchid beetle

Adults are 3.5 - 4.5 mm long, squat shaped, black or dark-bown with small grey flecks

Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle

Adult cabbage stem flea beetles are about 5mm long and shiny black with a hint of green/blue.

Cereal aphids

Adults are 2-3 mm long and colour varies from yellow to green, red or purple. Siphunculi (parts sticking out at rear) and antennae are blackish

Diamondback moth

A migrant moth with caterpillars that can defoliate brassicas

Grey field slug

Usually light grey or brown, grows to 5 cm in length

Leatherjackets

Larvae (grubs) of crane flies (daddy longlegs), greyish-black and up to 40mm long. Live in the soil and attack root system.

Orange wheat blossom midge

Orange wheat blossom midge can seriously damage yield and quality of susceptible wheat varieties but it depends on whether the egg-laying adult females emerge at the time when the wheat is at the at risk growth stage. Adults are small (1.5-2.5 mm long) and are a very distinctive bright orange colour.

Pea and bean weevil

Light grey-brown adults are 4-5 mm in length. Larvae (grubs) of this beetle damage root nodules reducing yield. Adults cause characteristic leaf notching feeding damage symptoms.

Peach-potato aphid

Up to 2mm long, usually pale green but varies in colour to pink or almost black

Pollen beetle

Shiny black Meligethes aeneus adults are 2-3 mm long and highly visible especially against a yellow background. Larvae are up to 3 mm long and white.

Potato cyst nematode

An underground pest that damages roots

Wheat Bulb Fly

A small fly - the larvae (grubs) burrow in stems and cause tillers to die (dead-heart damage symptoms)